The Fox across the Lake
by Grimm-Inuoka004
Summary: There was no one actually there for her; all around her were hardships. Come a short walk and a strange encounter and Hinata finds that maybe for the fox she wouldn't be so useless.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Naruto**

**The Fox Across the Lake**

The first time she saw the creature was after another harsh day with her father.

The training session was harsh, it was not her sister who would usually be her sparring partner today, but her cousin; Neji. She never understood why he was always so cold to her, but when he was chosen as her partner she knew it would be anything but pleasant. She tried really hard not to show any type of weakness even when she came to her absolute limit and fought with all her might, unfortunately she got hit too hard on her side that she fell and didn't even try to get up. Her father, Hiashi, only shook his head in disapproval and shouted at her to get up. It took her quite a while for her to do so. By the time she stood up, he had said that it was time to stop for a lunch break. Instead of joining them, however, she decided that a walk around the village would do her some good. She knew her father thought little of her and she knew that her little sister and cousin were better than her in almost everything, she knew that they spoke of these things when she was not around and she knew that everything was true.

The child stared at the ground and winced with each inhale of breath she took. There would be a terrible large bruise there at the side of her chest later on if not sooner. As she roamed around aimlessly she watched the people go about their business; children talking about ninjas and adults speaking of rumors heard from others about those in missions. She passed by the gates soon and was surprised to see that there were no guards stationed around the area; there was no one around and it was as quiet as the still night. Not a single bird whistled their songs, the wind didn't stir and the silence was thick. Curiosity piqued inside her, but she was never one to leave the village without an escort. In fact she was supposed to have an escort whenever going outside her home. Taking a quick look beyond the gates she went on to go back the way she came or at least tried to. When she turned around, she saw a boy staring at the sky with a bitter expression on his face and a noticeable mark of whiskers on his cheeks standing a few feet away from her. He looked so angry that she feared he would be mean to her if she made the wrong move.

'I should just go the other way.' But it was impossible, he was right in her path and the fact that there were other routes didn't even cross her mind; the awkwardness of the situation clouded her thoughts. Bringing her arms close to her chest, she braced herself to approach him and hoped he wouldn't care to bother with her.

Her steps were soft, but they reached the boy's ears easily and he snapped his head in her direction, his eyes alert and glaring daggers at her. Hinata flinched and stared back at him. "Um..." Her voice was soft, but the moment it reached him there was a giant puff of smoke and from it darted a bright yellow fox no bigger than the puppy that Kiba had around him, yet it's body was a little longer and it's tail fluffier with a white tip at the end. It darted past her to disappear out the village. The sudden movement startled her, but what startled her the most was the flash of silver shooting by and the sound of a sharp cry piercing her ears.

"Damn, it got away..." A deep gruff voice said from above her atop a generously tall tree.

"Yeah, well it won't be the last time we see it. Least now, we know that it's the kid causing so much trouble." Another one answered, but it was softer compared to his companion.

"Fast little thing ain't it? Ya think it's the big one's cub?"

"Could be. No denying the coat." The two chunin jumped down to collect the slightly bloody kunai they had thrown at the fox and looked down at Hinata who looked at them cautiously. "You shouldn't be here, kid. The fox could've gotten you." The man with the soft voice, went down to her level and lightly pat her head.

"The fox? You mean the boy?"

"It wasn't a boy, it was a fox." The man chuckled and gently sent her off home. Hinata glanced down to see the small thin trail of blood leading past the gates and despite what the guards said, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the small fox. The little time she spent out only made her feel more lonely than ever, but the encounter with the strange boy lingered lightly on her mind throughout the walk back home. When she did get home, she wished she never left in the first place. Her father was there, staring down at her with a cold gaze.

"Where have you been?"

"I went out... for a short walk around the village." She tried to keep her eyes on him, but there was something forcing them to stay on the ground. His eyes narrowed at her words, but other than that turned away and called her in to resume their training. Luckily, Hanabi was there so it wouldn't be so painful.

* * *

Night had soon fallen and almost everyone in the village had gone to sleep except for those on guard or heading out for missions and Hinata. She was sitting in her room in the darkness with her shirt lifted toward the moonlight to see the damage she had endured from Neji. As she suspected, the bruise had gotten large and was a dark purple blotch. Despite it's appearance it really wasn't as bad as she thought. Sure it hurt, but there was nothing so serious about it, at least she hoped. A soft sigh escaped her as she let her shirt fall back into place and remained seated, her thoughts wondering through the events of earlier and the event with the strange fox. She wondered why the guards had chased him off if he was just a kid, er... cub. She didn't know why, but she felt concerned over its well being and wanted so badly to see if he was all right. The kunai did hit him. Making up her mind she quietly stood and walked over to the hall and entered the kitchen where she knew there was medicine in a cabinet somewhere. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to stay absolutely quiet. After finding the medicine she grabbed the nearby gauze and with added caution slipped out the front door, careful not to make a single sound.

The idea was reckless and something that her father would be furious about, no doubt, but there was a sudden excitement to it. She smiled at the thought that she would be able to help someone even if that someone was an odd colored fox. She grabbed a small bag, placing the items inside and packed a little food. Instead of going through the front gates, she had found a small gap not too far from her home that a group of kids had made and though she was not sure where it headed, she was sure that it was not far seeing as the others still go through it from time to time.

It was dark, but the moon, though not full, was enough for her to look ahead and memorize the path. She always thought the forest of trees and animals were frightening, but when looked at a different angle it was beautiful and calm, possibly a place of comfort even. The walk through the bushes and trees was soon cut short in a clearing where there lay a giant lake. The water was calm with the light of the moon caressing its surface, the picture would have been perfect were it not for the soft ripples of disturbance growing in size from the other side. Following it's path, Hinata found that the cause of the distortion was in fact the same yellow fox lapping up the water in large gulps. He didn't appear to notice her presence yet which would have given Hinata a chance to get closer, but there was no way for her to get through the water without getting wet. Looking back up she let out a sharp gasp at seeing the fox staring straight at her.

She crept closer to the water carefully and saw her reflection look back at her. The water was clean and cool to the touch making a shiver go through her small body, but now that she had come this far she couldn't back down. She knew that the fox boy had a wound and judging from the red staining his fur, it hasn't been taken care of.

"I guess it's now or never..." With an uneasy look she took off the pack and held it above her head. She threw her sandals off so as not to get them ruined and ventured further into the cool lake slowly. 'Father's not gonna be happy...' The mere thought was enough to banish the cold from her nerves as she gently began to swim across, a tiny hint of fear gnawing at her deep inside. The fox though tense, did not move from his spot and as she came closer she could see that his eyes were a beautiful bright blue. The water swished and swayed with her movements until she finally came to the edge and crawled out. The short time in the water had warmed her a little or at least made it tolerable, but now that she was exposed to the silent winds, the temperature dropped farther than when she had entered. A whimper escaped her and a pointed ear twitched in response.

She set the bag down and inspected the contents by laying them out in front of her. Thankfully everything was dry.

"Here..." She lowered her hand to the ground, palm up and tried to get him closer. A sharp growl broke the silence and yellow fur bristled all over the fox's body making his tail bushy. Hinata flinched, but didn't relent. "I just want to fix your wound... I brought some medicine so that it wouldn't hurt any more." She got the small container out and opened the lid to show him the ointment. The growling stopped and the creature crept a little closer to take a look before raising his head to look at her.

"Ma says not to take things from strangers. Especially from people in the village."

Hinata's eyes widened at the sound of his voice. "Y-you can talk?" The fox's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Yeah. So what?"

"Oh, no I didn't mean anything rude about it, I was just surprised."

The fox sat back with a confused expression, head cocked to one side, eyes wide and not a moment later a large puff of smoke burst from it. "Why would you want to help me anyway?" He asked, waving away the dust with one hand. The boy was back only with the ears and tail still intact, sitting right in front of her and waiting for an answer. None was given.

Hinata had lowered her head still thinking of the question. "Well... I saw the kunai hit you. So I..."

"Oh that." He picked up his white shirt with a spiral flame in the center to show the small gash that had marked the side of his stomach. "It's not that bad. It'll go away if I lick it." Hinata peeked at the wound and did not seem convinced. It was still bleeding and if nothing was done it could get infected.

"But that'll make it hurt more if you do that." The boy glanced at her and noticed her eyes trained at the painful scratch, a hand hovering just above his middle as if to touch it. As soon as Hinata realized how close she was she jumped back for adequate space. Just by looking in her eyes he could tell she was true to her words and by the faint smell coming from the container made from the healing herbs found deep in the forest, the same herbs his father would collect sometimes, proved her intentions.

"Hehe, you're a funny one! I've never met someone who was honestly worried about me!" He smiled wide at her. "Well, aside from ma and pa." He picked up his head and pretended to think for a moment. "Ok!" He smiled again and moved slightly to the side, his tail curling close to his thigh.

"Oh, y-you'll let me?" He nodded to her, his eyes completely closed.

"Hm-hm!"

Finally granted permission, she turned to face the materials she had. She was no medical ninja, far from it, but she did have basic knowlege on how to treat some injuries. She took a small rag and dipped it in the water, squeezed all the excess liquid and brought it close to the seeping wound. This was usually the hard part; cleaning it.

"Ow!" She flinched at his loud voice and instinctively looked across the lake to see if anyone in the village had heard. Obviously, there was no one in sight.

"Sorry!" She whispered and continued to clean off the blood. The bleeding had thankfully slowed. Placing down the now dirtied rag, she picked up the medicine and gently began to slather it on the cut. The boy flinched upon contact, a shiver flowing through him at the chill of the pain all the way down his spine to the tip of his tail. It was only a moment, but it was very unpleasant until she finally wrapped it up. "There."

Looking down he could see that everything was neatly done. "Thank you uhh..."

"Ah! I'm Hyuga Hinata." She bowed lightly.

With a puff of pride and a point of his thumb the boy introduced himself. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" He grinned, exposing a pair of small fangs and seemed to pounce on the girl when in fact he swiftly leaned forward to touch his nose to hers; it was faint and gentle akin to a feather. The act was sudden and fast that Hinata couldn't process what had happened. He was so close that she almost fell.

"W-what was that?" She stammered, a faint blush coming over her.

"It's to show that you're my friend! " The bright fluffy tail was wagging lightly as he spoke. "Pa always said that friends help each other, so that must mean we're friends!" He stretched his hand out to shake her hand. Hinata stared at it in confusion. Aside from the few adults, Hinata never actually had a true friend before. The sight of his small hand held out for her was one of promise that it made her smile. Tentively she brought out her own hand.

'Friends...'

Their hands touched and Naruto was quick to close his around hers in a firm grip.

'I guess I'm not so useless now that I've helped a friend.'

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** A fic to my sis. A one-shot, but I'm starting to think it could be more... I'll give that a week's time for a response. Never made a Naruto fanfic, but well here it is. Hope some enjoyed.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**** Seriously wasn't expecting a response to the continuation thing, but it was very encouraging. Since NaruHina is one I am not quite accustomed to, I'll let the readers and my lovely sis be the judge of how good this story is as it goes. Enjoy number 2.**

* * *

Hinata stared at their linked hands in a sort of daze. It was comforting, accepting, supportive and above all warm; so warm that it made the cold of her wet clothes seem small and insignificant to her skin. When she looked up at him, his eyes were closed and his grin was wide so much like the little fox he was. She could hardly suppress the giggle that left her lips at the goofy expression. It was nice, it was pleasant and it was just what she needed to forget the woes and the pains of the earlier hours.

"Hey, you wanna play a game with me?" Naruto asked, his eyes shining with high hopes that it was hard for her to say no despite the tall moon that loomed over the quiet large body of water. The night always went by faster than the lights of the day. With a shy nod of her head she relented to the boy's offer and no sooner had she done that did he pull her up on her feet. "Great! How 'bout we play hide and seek?" He asked with a playful wag of his tail.

She remembered this game. The children of the village would sometimes play it at the playground. One will be 'it' or as some would call the 'monster' and the others had to hide while the one who's it counts to ten. If one gets caught, then they become the next monster. Even with an older cousin and a little sister, she's never played any sort of game with them only with the adults and her mother. They were fun, but now playing a game more suited for kids made her feel a little nervous. "I don't mind playing, but who will be it?" Saying monster just seemed like an insult and there was no way she was going to call her new friend a monster.

The boy raised his hand so fast that it made her flinch. "I'll be it!" He shouted loudly, his tail not even able to contain the excitement he felt at finally being able to play with someone new. Someone who didn't shun him away from their fun games because of his odd traits. He pointed a finger in the direction behind him where the tall trees stood. "You can go hide, I'll count to ten here where your bag is." They both looked over at the bag with the materials still laying by it. "Don't worry, no one will come here and steal them, I promise!" He assured and she nodded a little hesitant, but there was no harm in playing a small game was there? Just for a short while.

As Naruto sat in front of the bag with his hands closed over his eyes, Hinata went over to find a hiding spot somewhere among the trees. She could hear Naruto count at a steady pace, but it managed to make her panic in her search. She finally found a place in a bush of berries. The leaves were full and plentiful with just enough space for her to crawl underneath. With a slight shuffle of the thin twigs and loose leaves she hid herself inside the bush, barely able to look out from a gap.

"... Nine... Ten!" He bounced away from his place and dashed right into the forest, wondering where Hinata hid. He searched up in the trees, even in the nests of sleeping birds. A poor choice for his nose. Falling off the branch and onto the dirt he groaned as he sat up, listening and sniffing the air in hopes that he would find a hint as to where the little girl went and when there came not a single clue, he caught the faint sound of a sneeze coming a few ways in front of him. A toothy grin splayed once more across his face and without restraint ran up to pounce on the bush, his hands outstretched to wrap around the middle of her body, earning a surprised yelp from the found girl. "Found you!"

Tangled into the branches and covered in green, Naruto gently began to pull Hinata out of the bush completely missing the small space that would have allowed her an easy exit, pulling off branches and spreading berries and leaves alike on the forest floor. They both landed on their butts laughing and giggling at the rush of the game. A silly and simple game, but for them it was fun nonetheless.

"So this must mean that I'm it now, huh?" He nodded his head quickly and pulled away from her, giving them both a chance to get up on their feet. Without delay, they both went in different directions, one going far off into a short distance and the other going up to a tree stump where there lay a small patch of flowers growing around it; a perfect spot to count.

While she began to count and Naruto went off to hide, there was an odd feeling welling up in her. It was cold and dreadful as though something awfully wrong would happen soon. Unable to remember the rule of not looking over your shoulder while counting, Hinata glanced behind her in hopes of finding a small patch of yellow hair somewhere nearby only to be greeted with the stillness of the night. She didn't know what made her feel this way. When she had been hiding there was nothing around that could instill any trace of fear, but now she could tell something was wrong. She leaned forward against the stump and hid her face in her arms as she tried to ignore the unnerving silence and whispered the last three numbers slowly. A chill went up her spine as she brought up the courage to lift up her head and would have turned to go find Naruto, but was stopped cold at the sight of a very big, very red beast that stared back at her with a cool blue gaze. A short, sharp gasp escaped her as she stumbled back away from the black nose that just nearly touched her head and shut her eyes.

A light laugh came up as though it belonged to the trees. "Calm down, little one. I won't hurt you." It was soft and sounded very much like a woman's. "You're very brave to have crossed that lake." She commented, making Hinata slowly open her eyes and instead of seeing red fur and a nose, she saw a young woman sitting at the other side of the tree stump, one hand laying over the other as if she were having a nice conversation with a friend. Her hair was a deep, beautiful red, her eyes the same as Naruto's if not darker, but her fox-like ears were red and folded neatly behind her like a flower were nine tails. A vixen. Hinata could barely utter a sound and was at a complete loss for words as the woman merely laughed at the adorable girl's expression.

"I am Naruto's mother, Uzumaki Kushina." She reached over grabbing her hand and gently pulled her up to sit on her knees. At the mention of Naruto, Hinata quickly calmed down and looked at the smiling woman. "It was quite an enjoyment to watch you two play like that, but I have to wonder if your parents know you're not in the village." She said with a sly grin. Hinata immediately looked back at the direction of the lake in fear.

"Ah! I'm s-sorry, but I saw Naruto-kun get hurt today and... well... I wanted to m-make sure he was ok..." She looked down at her hands nervously. The woman's ear twitched at her words, obviously unhappy that her child had been hurt. "Oh, but I fixed it!" She said in hopes that his mother wouldn't be mad. "I brought some medicine and made sure the injury wasn't bad and wrapped it up just like my mother showed me!"

She heard a soft laugh and looked up to see her smiling. The moonlight hitting her hair and the surrounding flowers made it seem like she was in a fairy-tale, talking with a fictional character in the book. "Tell me child, where is your mother? I'm sure it would be wonderful to meet someone like her." She was only kidding, but Hinata was quick to answer no matter how soft and small her voice was, it was something her father had tried to teach her. To let go of the past.

"M-mother's... not here." She said it so quietly that her ears almost didn't catch it.

"I see." She took hold of her hands and placed a lovely colorful rose that was a bright shade of red. Her eyes were soft and loving as if she were talking to her own, yet Hinata could see that she was trying to cheer her up. "Well, I really must thank you for fixing up my boy. He can get into so much trouble when we're not around." Hinata only gave her a confused look.

"He wants to be a ninja just like those in that village of yours." She chuckled, placing a hand on her cheek at the thought. "He tries to fit in, but they..." She shook her head sadly. "Well it's sometimes hard making friends." Hinata silently agreed with a faint nod. It certainly was, but now that she had Naruto as a friend, it didn't seem so bad; she even felt a little confident after meeting him and it was fun playing with him.

"I do hope that you two will become the best of friends." She patted her head softly as Hinata beamed up at her, a light blush spreading over her cheeks at the encouragment. "We were scared he got into some kind of trouble, but now that I know he was with you, that doesn't seem to be the case. Come on, I'm sure his father caught him by now." They stood and went down the exact path that Naruto had taken with Kushina going on about her husband so much like a teenager that little Hinata couldn't help, but want to see what sort of fox he could be as she listened to every word she said. When they found them, they were playing and chasing one another in a fierce game of tag, completely oblivious to the two girls watching them.

She winked at Hinata before taking in a quick breath. "Naruto!" Both males immediately stopped and sat down at the loud voice. Naruto with a stiff body and his father with a sheepish grin, and a hand scratching the back of his head. Hinata couldn't help, but blink at them curiously. "How dare you make a lady wait! And look you even made her get all dirty!" Getting a good look at herself, Hinata gasped at how dirty she really was with mud caked on her knees and pants, dirt dusting over her damp shirt with the stains from the berries and various leaves and twigs sticking on her body. She frantically began to try and clean it all away, but it was useless. Her father would be absolutely furious if he ever found out she went out without notice.

"Ah! Uh... umm... It was pa's fault!" He shoved an accusing finger at the blond man chuckling lightly at his wife, his ears lowered a little and twin tails of yellow fur waved at a leisurely pace behind him.

"Hmph! Well come on; Naruto, Minato. We can't have the poor dear shivering out here anymore than she has." She turned swiftly and led Hinata further into the forest to what looked to be a house right at the center. She could hear the conversation between Naruto and his father about her; talking of her kindness and their new friendship thing, even going as far as planning other games to play at later times. They finally entered the house and Kushina wasted no time in cleaning up Hinata and her clothing.

It really felt like hours had gone by when Hinata first crossed the lake and when Naruto followed her to go back home, she found that there was a bridge made of wood connecting the two sides with her stuff resting right by it. She blinked and questioned Naruto about it. He looked around real quick and even listened very hard for any strange sounds. "It's a secret." He whispered in her ear. "But I'm sure it won't be bad if I tell you as long as you keep it secret." She nodded. "It has to do with a contract between the village and the Uzumaki clan. Ma and pa are supposed to be the guardians of the village to protect from enemy lands." They crossed the wooden bridge and just before Hinata went to go back the way she had came, she turned to look back at Naruto who waved at her happily.

"W-will we play again soon?" She asked, silently scared that they wouldn't see each other after the night had lifted.

"Yeah! We'll play again real soon!" He promised with another wide grin.

When she turned to go on she glanced back to see that not only did Naruto disappear, but the large bridge as well. It felt surreal to see the same lake bring the moon on it's surface, to feel her sandals back on her feet the same as when she left them and to be aware that the moon had not moved an inch from it's place in the sky. She knew ninja had the power to create illusions and use other sorts of trickery to fool their enemies, but could they truly be better than a fox's? As she went on towards home she could hardly await the next days of training, feeling that with a little support she could better herself just like her father expected and play with the tricky friend who lived in the forest.

* * *

Shouts of rigorous training could be heard from beyond the gates of the Hyuga compound. There, twisting and turning and throwing hits at a dummy was a young girl whose hair was like a streak of the midnight sky flowing behind her. Her eyes were trained at the dummy, her feet moved gracefully and swiftly to find the various points in which to attack. To those few members watching and admiring her strength along with her partners, she was magnificent, but in her mind she was not looking to impress them, in fact she was not even aware of their presence; her mind venturing back to the past like a vivid dream. A simple moment that would have meant nothing to most, but it was where her current self stemmed from. A memory so fond that it was worthy of remembrance even during the acts of training. A palm landed hard at the left side of the dummy wood's chest, effectively crushing it to nothing. Years had long since passed after that night, the days going by faster than Minato's speed and the nights like seconds.

Sweat rolled over her forehead as the day's daily training soon came to an end. Short pants of breath leaving her longing for more to relieve the dull ache in her lungs. Several tools lay scattered over the ground along with lingering bugs and dog fur.

"Well, I'd say that was the most training hours we've built up this entire week, huh Akamaru?" The large canine barked in agreement with his master lying against his side in exhaustion. There standing against a tree was Shino, both arms limp and crawling with small black bugs going every which way, staying silent, but was thinking the same as his teammate. "What do ya say about taking a lunch break, eh Hinata?" Kiba called out to the young girl as she fell to sit on the ground in an effort to catch her breath.

"That sounds great." She said with a tired smile. She soon stood to walk around and pick up sharp tools and clean up the mess of wood of several dummies. The smell of cooking could easily be detected by the canine's sharp nose and couldn't stop the wagging tail in anticipation of a meal. She gently pat the large dog's head as his tongue lolled out in a grin while Kiba stretched out stiff limbs and Shino summoned back his insects.

"It's great to train here and all, but nothing beats the outdoor surroundings of a forest where real combat is sure to take place."

"Yes, well a change of scenery is sometimes fitting once in a while."

"Hm, true. Anything could happen in any place and in any time."

Hinata smiled at their retreating forms going into the building to fix up lunch, remembering their forming friendship when they had been placed together as genin. Naruto had always been her only friend up until then, when she had become a genin at the academy. It was quite an occasion at starting off to becoming exceptional ninja of the land of fire, but when she had went by the usual path and came to the lake to speak with Naruto and his parents, there was nothing. The vast amount of water had dried up as though vacant for years; not a drop was left in it's place. The lone moon's light in the night was nowhere to be seen, shrouding the area in thick darkness. She wandered through and through, but there was no trace of the house that welcomed her nor sight or sound of the yellow fox, leaving her feeling lonely and lost. All that was left to show of their time was the old tree stump that looked withered and weary of loneliness as well as the several flowers surrounding it.

She stayed there for hours until Neji found her and brought her back home. She didn't know what had happened, however when she had questioned her father about it, he said that the lake had dried up before she was born. It was heartbreaking and she was near tears at the knowlege that her one and only friend had left her, or worse, he was never there to begin with. She reasoned that there must have been good reason for his sudden disappearance and tried her best to become stronger with hopes that they'd meet again at some point, but it was a harsh effort that wore her out. Her mind under the pressures started to doubt and she was sure to lose hope had it not been for a giant scroll that had been given to her from her father by order of the Hokage himself. When she had opened it, there was nothing in it, nothing but the name of Uzumaki written at the end.

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** Um... yeah as I said I am not used to NaruHina (or Naruto in general) so I would appreciate some feedback if this chapter was good...or not. It's still developing, but I will add times when they were still children and playing in italics in future chapters. I like little friendship fics, but maybe I can turn this into romance too. Hope those that reviewed enjoyed this chapter, till the next update. :3**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**** Oops, late update. Sorry. To make it up this one is a little longer (unless you're one to dislike long chapters). I am happy that you enjoy it so far. X3**

* * *

"So about that scroll..." Kiba started while taking a large bite into a sandwich that he made in the kitchen. At his feet, Akamaru gnawed on a fairly large sized steak Hinata had given him as a nice treat. "Have you figured out how to use it yet?" He asked as he stared at his food curiously; chewing at a lazy pace. Shino had apparently already finished his little meal and resigned himself to silently listen to his comrades while his bugs crawled around his hands or hovered around, quietly wondering about the same subject. It wasn't always brought up in their normal conversation, but from time to time it would come to mind. Hinata on the other hand, had no clue what to say about it on every occasion. It was simply the same answer over and over and it was a real bother to her that there was nothing new to say.

She looked at her own sandwich and shook her head lightly. The giant object in question lay silently behind her, it's cover a deep red with a lining of yellow and no words indicating what it was for and the last name of her childhood friend left no hints either in it's blank interior.

"Huh... weird. The third Hokage just went up and gave it to you and after all this time, you still don't know what to do with it. Why keep it?" He looked up at her in confusion.

"Because it was given to me by _him_... and you should know that it would be very disrespectful to just toss it away, Kiba-kun." She scolded lightly, Akamaru agreed with a low combination of a growl and a whine towards his master who looked at both of them with an uncertain look.

"Uh... Oh... I guess you're right. Sorry." He stuffed his mouth with the rest of his food to refrain from saying anything else stupid.

"I think what Kiba was trying to get across was: what are you planning to do with it?" The young girl looked over at the quiet male staring at the countless bugs thoughtfully, wondering just what she should do with the scroll herself. She never mentioned the name written inside to her friends and she's never mentioned Naruto and his parents to her family either, preferring to keep that knowlege to herself in fear that the privilege of seeing them may be taken from her or risk him into possible harm.

"I was thinking that maybe Tsunade-sama may help me..." She looked down at her unfinished plate with a small frown.

"Oh yeah? So you think that it could be some sort of a contract like with summoning?" Kiba asked with an excited grin. "I mean if you look at it, it kinda looks like it would be." Akamaru barked in agreement after having gnawed the steak all the way to the bone. The thought brought a small spark of excitement in her chest. The name was there and what she's learned from the academy and training, a contract between the two would be all that's required for a summoning. She glanced back at the scroll in wonder. Tsunade would know of it, she had summoned a slug once before, so there was no reason to think that a visit wouldn't help.

"Perhaps it could be... Well I'm sure that Tsunade-sama can help!" A small blush appeared softly over her face, unable to stop that small hope that she would get to see her friend again after so long. it was really too long ago that they met and remained in touch until her graduation of the academy. They played together many games, most of the time it was Naruto that would talk alot and Hinata would just be following along, unable to find a reason to go against his words except for that single time they ran into a particularly dangerous plant. "I was planning to go visit her after training-"

"Hey, how 'bout we all go together?" Kiba's face was suddenly a few inches too close to her own that it startled her. She flinched back, bumping into the scroll behind and stared at his excited grin. "It'd be awesome if you could summon something as big as the frog or slug!" He laughed.

"Kiba, every summoning is not always as big as the buildings or even a live being. It could be like Ten Ten's tools." Shino stated blankly, souring the boy's enthusiasm instantly.

"You never know..." he mumbled under his breath before turning back to her. "Let's go give it a try Hinata!" Without another word of warning, the canine specialist grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled her up along with the scroll, rushing down through the halls and leaving Shino to silently follow at a respective pace.

"Wait, Kiba!" She tried to calm him, but his excitement blinded and rendered him deaf as he kept his sights ahead. Hinata knew that anymore attempts to stop him were useless. He was almost as determined as Naruto when he was fired up for something new and this time was no different. She tried her best to keep up without much disturbance to the residence of her home, but it was difficult and the weight of the scroll held tight to her chest didn't help either. Caught up in the speed, she was reminded of when Naruto was allowed to sneak into the village just once at the edge of the lake that shifted with the whispering winds. It was a promise between him and his father as long as his mother never found out; it was worthless though when they came back to a very nervous Minato with a very angry Kushina later on that night.

* * *

_"Please!" the boy wailed as he clutched the shin of his father's leg._ _He was begging again to go venture off with Hinata in the village, but as he well knew, he parents didn't allow him to cross the bridge above the shining water. "Just this one time, pa! Hinata-chan will be with me, I promise! We won't do anything bad I swear!" He shouted and clawed, pleading with Minato to allow him permission while small Hinata sat right beside her loud friend, looking at them curiously as she sipped at the green tea offered to her. Kushina was out at the moment for some reason or another and that left the two boys home alone, completely bored out of their minds until Hinata came around for another visit._

_"Naruto you know your mother won't be happy if she finds out you sneeked into the village again..." He tried to reason with him, but the young one would not stand for it. He had the fight of his mother making it very difficult to calm him. He ruffled his head playfully even as his glare was still fixed on his face. "Come now Naruto, you can play with Hinata-chan here can't you?" _

_"But I want to play with Hinata-chan at the playground!" He countered defensively. "Hinata-chan's always wanted to play there, but all she does is watch the other kids play! It's not fair!" Hinata blushed fiercely at his words and fumbled with the cup in her hands almost causing it to spill onto the floor. Minato looked at her quickly before returning to the look on Naruto's face. He was still glaring and holding onto his leg. Now it was now his turn to frown down at him. _

_"W-wait Naruto-kun, I-I don't think it would be a good idea..." She whispered quietly, worry etched on her face as she whispered into his ear thinking that the adult couldn't hear her hushed voice. _

_"Why not?"_

_She whispered again into his ear and with each word she uttered Minato's ears twitched. His eyes softened at the way Naruto listened intently and felt the grip on his leg slacken. A smile crawled it's way onto his face at the sight and flowed brilliantly into his cerulean eyes. Being in a clan of this nature was not exactly easy, if anything it was harsh and exhausting. He knew because of his wife, the nine-tailed fox, her power was immense and rivaled by none, not even by him. He was a two-tailed beast, another rarity, yet he was not as great as she. Soon, he was brought out of his thinking by a light movement of his leg. Hinata and Naruto were still whispering to each other as quietly as they could. _

_"But I thought it would be fun to play there with you." Apparently, Naruto wasn't so good at being quiet. _

_"It would, but I don't want you to get in trouble and I don't think I would be allowed to play there without someone watching over me..." _

_"It's not like I'm going to eat you."_

_She tried not to laugh. "I know, but..."_

_"How 'bout this" the two felt one hand touch their shouder and brought their gaze up to look up at the smiling man. "I'll let you go, but you have to promise not to get into any trouble." They looked at each other for a moment and nodded at him. "Good. Now Naruto, remember that jutsu I taught you a while back?" He asked with a grin. _

_"Yeah."_

_"Well now would be a good time to test it out. You can transform into another child and play without having anyone recognize you." For a moment Naruto just stood there staring at his father with a skeptical look and then looked down at his hands. _

_"But who do I turn into?" He couldn't think of anyone not him and there was no way he'd turn into one of the kids from the village; he'd get caught instantly by one of the ninja patrolling around._

_"I know, you can turn into me." He placed a thumb on his chest with a wide proud smile. "No one will tell the difference!" With a quick hand sign he instantly transformed into a child; a miniature Minato. The same exact size as Naruto. _

_"Oh..." He quickly copied the hand sign and in the next second he stood shoulder to shoulder with his father. _

_"See, it's just like a clone! Just be sure to hide your ears and tail." He laughed as he watched his son wag his tail and look over his body. He returned to normal and glanced at the giggling young girl. "What do you think, Hinata-chan?"_

_"Oh, uhm..." Shy and embarassed to say anything, she instead stared at the ground with a small smile of her own. "I'm happy that N-Naruto-kun will get to play with me..." She whispered quietly. Minato chuckled at her, he knew that he was going to be in for quite a mouthful once his beloved wife got word of Naruto sneaking, with permission, into the village, but if it was just this one time then it couldn't possibly be of much consequence... At least he dearly hoped it wouldn't._

_"Come on Hinata-chan! Before the night comes!" He shouted, happily grabbing her wrist and running out the door before Minato could say anything else. He was grinning wide and there was a light shade of pink on his cheeks from the rush of excitement that welled deep in him. Hinata just couldn't find it in her to ask him to stop for the one sandal that was left in his home. He was having fun and she was too._

* * *

She remembered that after the day had turned to night, Kushina came up to them at the bare playground. Naruto was pushing Hinata on a swing a little too hard and she had to admit that it was pretty scary almost going over the metal bar at the top. It took them a full five minutes until they noticed her looking down at them with a kind smile. She looked the same, but had her tails and ears hidden really well. Turned out that Naruto and Minato got in trouble leaving Hinata to feel a little guilty, but was quickly assured that it was nothing to fret over.

A swift turn down a hall and a quick dodge of another body was enough to get Hinata out of her memories as they soon came upon Tsunade's door. They skid to a halt at the entrance and waited while Shino calmly came to stand next to them. He knocked just enough to announce their presence and was soon given the 'go-ahead' to open the door only to be greeted with a sight full of paper. At the center of the room beside the desk was a tired looking Shizune holding more papers with Ton-Ton lying by her feet. Sitting on the chair with a glare was the 5th Hokage, barely sparing the small group an irritable glance as she furiously scanned through the vast amount of documents regarding several issues of the village, the missions lined up from S to D and other necessities that demanded attention.

"Team Kurenai, what brings you three to my lovely office this fine day?" She asked bitterly.

"Ah...haha... Well we were going to ask something of you Lady Tsunade, but uh... I can see that you seem to be quite busy at the moment." Kiba lightly rubbed the back of his head at the slightly intimidating look of the woman's leering eyes.

"Nonsense!" Shizune chirped with an unusually cheerful tone. "She'll be happy to help you with whatever it is!" She giggled, setting aside the stack with a small huff.

"Shizune... I'd rather not-"

"Don't be silly Tsunade-sama! You wouldn't leave them hanging at a time like this would you? Of course not!" Ton-Ton sat up at the movement of feet and snorted uneasily at the two behind the desk. "Not after yesterday's trip to a bar and gambling soon afterwards!" She hissed in forcing a smile on her face with great effort. Her head was is a massive hangover when she had awoken early in the morning and was still lightly throbbing. Shizune warned her last night that she had work that was in need of being looked over, but was drowned out by her impulsive behavior for a drink and a bit of fun leaving her to be dragged around mercilessly until she finally passed out. Now, after her 'night out' she was now forced to wake up early to finish up what was left, which was alot.

With a sigh and a shove, the woman placed a hand to rub her aching head in an effort to calm her nerves. "Ok... What is it?" She asked calmly, catching that faint moment where her assistant shot her a smug look.

Hinata was lightly nudged with an elbow to go forward by Kiba. She glanced at him warily, but silently relented to his pushing. She supposed that this was originally her idea, so...

"Ahem... Well Tsunade-sama, I was wondering if you could help me with this..." She reached behind her to pull out the scroll fastened to her back and placed it over the paper that still lay on the desk, knocking a few over for her to see. "My father had given it to me by order of the third Hokage, but I haven't figured out what it was for or how to use it." She stepped away to allow her a thorough look at the scroll.

"Tsunade-sama, you don't think this could be..." Her assistant trailed off as she slowly opened the scroll only to see the same single name that Hinata had seen countless times and one she'd thought she wouldn't see for a long time.

"Yup. Apparently it is." She sighed heavily as she placed an elbow onto the desk and stared at the name written in ink staring back at her. "What you have here is indeed a summoning scroll."

"I knew it!" the shout of her teammate was enough to make her jump. "So what does it summon?" He quickly asked, rushing over and leaning over Hinata's shoulder to take a better look at the scroll.

"It's an ancient summoning scroll used for the most powerful of beings. Their power is by far the most fearsome and the most rare. It is one that does not come by easily and is not to be used lightly." Her eyes were still concentrated at the writing as she spoke, a hint of suspicion and caution heard in her tone.

_"It's a secret... It has to do with a contract between the village and the Uzumaki clan..."_

"The name is from a clan that is dwindling. Unfortunately, I know not of how to summon them. It is a bit more complex than a normal summoning technique." She quickly closed the scroll and handed it back to Hinata with a grave look.

"Hardly anyone know of a scroll like this and fewer know how to use it." Shizune added.

The three looked at it with disappointment only to be distracted with a swift rise of a single finger. "If I were you Hinata, I wouldn't dig any further than you have. This information is only the tip of the iceberg. Not much is known of it and for many, it is something that would best be lost in time." Her words were cold and serious; borderline threatening. "I have to wonder though... why would the third give this to you?" They only shrugged in confusion making her sigh.

"Well anyway, Hinata" She shot her a fierce look. "I will have to insist that you be very careful in handling this scroll. Do not even attempt to use it. This is a very delicate object that is sought by many. Should an enemy come by with the knowlege of it's power, well it certainly isn't something I'd want to discover with my own eyes. It was supposed to be hidden away and sealed in order to ensure no one would get their hands on it, but... Ah I'm getting ahead of myself." She cleared her throat and folded her arms across her chest. "If something should ever happen concerning that scroll, tear it up. It may hold great power, but once it is torn, it is nothing more than simple paper."

Listening closely to her words, Hinata slowly nodded in understanding, but the feeling of sorrow was heavy in her heart. 'A danger...?' She thought to herself as her and her team excused themselves from the office with gratitude.

"Well that was a bummer." Kiba sighed, throwing his arms over his head in thought. "I guess it's pretty much useless then, right Akamaru?" He barked loudly in answer. "Yep, would've been awesome to see what this powerful being was, huh Hinata?"

'Yeah... It would've..." She replied softly. Her head was low as she walked ahead of the two. Instantly they knew that something was wrong with her by the saddened tone and the fallen gaze as she went forward to go on home; the crimson scroll looking back at them, seeming so much like a burden to their kind-hearted friend.

"Hey Hinata..."

"Hinata..." They called out to her in concern, but by the smile given to them they knew not to push her further than they already had, well Kiba anyway. Shino knew perfectly when to give his friends adequate space. The knowlege given to them didn't seem like much to them, so they couldn't really see why she would be upset. However, it wasn't so for her for knowing that the name itself was what made her so happy at the thought of a reunion and also terribly sad as nothing more than an old reminder to a friend that couldn't possibly be forgotten.

The young woman had thought of going home after that visit to the Hokage, but soon found it more appealing to visit the dried up lake. Her footsteps were loud to her ears, the shuffling of leaves sounding older than the time that flowed. The birds singing their songs like a soothing remedy to lift her spirits even with the giant object on her back, but it was a weight that was light to her. She counted the trees she passed and noted the stones that remained from past games with one carefully carved with the initials of an N and an H as part of their games. A few other stones held those initials, she recalled, but they had been thrown successfully into the lake with that lone one being the last. A smile formed from her lips at the memory as she finally came to the edge of the dusty remains.

'It's not like he's permanently gone.' She thought to herself. 'He's just away.' Though it was of little consolation, it was the truth and far more better than the latter. Her thoughts roamed over and over in her mind; of the times of the past and the times that she planned. She couldn't possibly count them all with her hands, but it was enough to turn that small smile into a genuine grin of hope. The grass was still there and as lush as she had remembered, so she sat at the edge and stared at the ground with the scroll allowing her to lean back against it. The crater was fairly deep, as expected of the lake that seemed enormous when she was young.

"You're new." A voice spoke from behind. Without a second thought, she jumped to her feet and turned to face the owner of the voice. It belonged to another she knew of, though vaguely, and she let out a silent sigh of relief. "It's not often that a person just walks right into the forest to sit in front of the dead lake. Throws in a little more color actually." There sitting against an old tree was a member of team seven with a sketch book lying on his lap and a small pack resting beside him; Sai. His eyes were as void of emotion as the crater was of water and it did nothing but make her feel a little uneasy. Oblivious of her feelings to his sudden intrusion of her thoughts, he continued on drawing whatever it was that lay before him, even if that included her. "May I ask what brings you here, Hinata-san?" He asked in a plain voice.

She watched as his pencil moved expertly over the paper as she thought of how to answer him. "I was just walking around and I suppose... my feet just led me here." She looked down at the grass sadly before raising her head to ask him a question. "What about you Sai-san, what brought you here?"

"Me?" He picked up his gaze briefly to get more details of the scenery. "I'm here waiting for that old Hag and the moody Uchiha. We might have a mission soon or just train somewhere around here."

"I see... Ah, it's not really polite to call people names you know. It hurts their feelings." Her eyes shifted from place to place nervously.

"I'm well aware, but you can't help it if it's true. Besides she's not here yet anyway, not like she's gonna hear it." He continued onto his sketching disregarding the look of nervousness the girl was showing. "And I'm sure Sasuke doesn't even care so why bother? Although I guess it would be more interesting if he did care, I could call them the 'Terrible Two'."

"Kakashi-sensei, well he's nothing more than a pervert; nothing more nothing less. What they don't know, won't hurt, isn't that the saying?"

"Uhh..."

"So you think you think I'm a pervert? Hmm, well I wouldn't call it that..." Up above, perched on the very same tree where Sai was leaning on was none other than Kakashi himself. He had the same book held in one hand while he casually held a small rock on the other, tossing it up and down. He soon threw the rock onto his head, making him gently rub the sore spot without a sign of discomfort. "However, women don't take to such things as easily as men, right Sakura?" Sai's eyes widened just a bit at the sight of his two teammates staring at him a few trees away. The young girl was seething with barley contained rage as Sasuke sighed at the usual antics of his squad acting up again. From the sidelines Hinata watched as the team filled the tranquil sounds of the forest with loud shouts and bickering. They were there for a bit of training and said she was more than welcomed to join much to Sakura's enjoyment at having a girl to hang with for a bit instead of being surrounded by men. Even amidst the training, the pink haired shinobi would get fed up with her partner calling her names and pointing out her flaws while Sai was earning quite a bit of sore bumps on his poor head. It was a team effort trial that seemed to drive both Sai and Sakura up the wall with frustration at failing constantly. Sasuke could only sigh as he looked at them along with Hinata who could only offer encouraging words and suggestions.

"It's just a simple three-legged race and you can't even manage that? You two are hopeless."

The scroll was placed right beside Kakashi as he continued his reading without so much interruption as normal, stealing a quick glance at the thing next to him only to dismiss it the next second. Though it was refreshing to be playing a simple game and having the quiet forest filled with a few shouts, she would really enjoy playing this game with Naruto. It was certainly something she would have to add to that list she made of games to play after he had suddenly disappeared. Everyone has their secrets, but maybe there were some that were meant to be revealed. She laughed as the two struggled to get their footing in control; for now she would let it be, but sooner or later she was going to find an anwer on how to get her friend back. How hard could figuring out a summoning scroll be anyway?

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** Again, sorry for the late update(and these annoying AN's). Hope this made up for it. Obviously this would be considered AU, so I'm using various characters to fill in the blanks like with team seven. Still thinking what else I could do with the others, but anyway, on a side note; I do go over these chapters for my stories, but I am a complete robot when I read over my own stuff. I may fix spelling and simple stuff like that, but I'm not that good on the flow of it, so it might seem a bit rushed at times, so a bit of constructive criticism is welcomed to help improve my work and make it more fun to read. Til the next Update. :3**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**** Just in case no one caught that little subtle time-skip thingie, it was in the second chapter near the end. Usually updates are during the weekend, but things have gotten hectic along with a minor writer's block on almost all my stories and am getting little snippets of help from my sis and small inspiration. X3 Sad to say, motivation is being sapped away... I'll get through it eventually. Oh and on a side note, instead of Minato being the fourth I've made it Jiraiya! Retired for the sake of 'research'! I'm saying that now because I'm not sure if I'll include it later on.**

**Another side note: This story will most definately be weird only because of character placement. Yup, I'm basically messing with them... At the very least I'm making an effort to make it flow correctly.**

* * *

The winds of sand whipped dangerously around as hands and feet sprinted furiously against jagged rocks. Small grains slid through soft fur, pelting the skin hidden beneath, yet no matter how painful it was, the silhouette continued through the harsh weather without complaint, worry and slight panic washing over blue eyes scanning through the gust. His jaw was clenched tight as he twisted and turned in an effort to try and reach the entrance of the village. If there was one thing he hated, it was sandstorms. Were it not for a fellow friend living in the desert, he would have never made a trip to such a place from the beginning, but drastic times call for drastic measures and this was most definately a time of crisis for the lad. A shudder of fear rippled through his body at the constant reminder of his mother's warnings.

Coming of age was of great importance for those of the Uzumaki clan. Rigorous training was required for such an event and as a reward for success, one would be granted their own scroll specifically for them. There were only a selected few of which the boy knew of and that was the giant toad known as Gamabunta, his mother, and Gaara of the sand who had gained his scroll at a tender age and he was also the one of whom he was looking for in the dense storm. Hours had gone by into his relentless search and so far there was no sign of the village appearing anytime soon within the distance.

"What the- Argh!" He finally skid to a halt in front of a large boulder, narrowly avoiding a hit to the head and let out a large sigh of exhaustion. His chest heaved with each breath, behind him waved a long bushy yelow tail, practically exceeding his own height, that flopped down to the ground. Looking down, he could see blood seep faintly into his fur-covered hands while he paused in his search to contemplate his situation. He was tired of searching fruitlessly through an abyss of endless sand; he should've been at the village by now. He should already be talking to the sand guardian of Sunagakure, but instead he was sitting in front of a boulder having gone nowhere, staying stuck in a massive sandstorm with no sign of anything but stones...

Realization sunk in.

"Aw dammit... Gaara! Enough of the stupid storm already!" His loud voice was carried through each grain of sand, never getting past it's defense to the outside world. His tail thrashed wildly against the wind, knocking the small particles away for a slight moment of rest. "Come on, I need to talk to you! It's important!" He shouted once more over the raging howls. For a while nothing changed. If anything, the winds got louder.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but for the saftey of the village I must keep the sandstorm alive. Times are not good right now." The grains twirled and fused to make up a figure just a few inches shorter than the fox. As he approached the sharp winds got just a little softer and dispersed to continue its rage around them. "Might I ask what your business is in Suna?"

The blonde rubbed his eyes, sitting back on his legs as the other joined to sit with him. "Like I said, I needed to talk to you." He peeked over at him to test his vision only to hiss at the pain of lingering dust burning his eye.

"About?"

When at last he cleared his vision, he sighed contently and took a moment to get a good look at his friend. He had his arms crossed over his chest like usual and was staring at him with calm teal eyes. His hair was still messy with crimson just as he remembered; coiled around him was his tail as dull colored as the sand he manipulated, but noticeably softer to the touch than the latter. Yup exactly the same Gaara from long ago when they sparred together, only...

"Hey wait, where's your gourd?" He pointed to his back, but he only blinked and narrowed his eyes lightly as if annoyed.

"It was given to a new master." He replied quietly.

"Already? To who? The Kazekage, an ANBU member maybe?" An excited smile stretched over his face at the thought of his friend part of a contract with a shinobi. "You can tell me! I promise I won't tell a soul!"

Unlike the Uzumaki's, the contract scroll between Gaara and his summoner is in the guise of the gourd that would usually be strapped to his back. Whomever has it has the power to summon him only through the correct procedures as well as having their name recorded in the scroll, however, should a stranger take hold of it and attempt to use it, the sand inside will rise and rip the unknown being to shreds. Only those of high power are allowed to have a contract with the guardian of the sand and use his power. It mattered not to Gaara who the owner was, as long as it was for the good of the village where his home was, but the look he had on his face was one that contradicted that fact. He was a powerful being just like Kushina and was not one to be trifled with, to handle him required wisdom as well as strength.

"The Kazekage has passed down the gourd of the sand..."

"That's great! Uh, but who is it?" He pressed, much to his displeasure.

"To his daughter..."

It took Naruto a complete five minutes to realize who the daughter was. "Ohh... That's... Uhh... Is that a wise thing to do?" He scrtached at his head awkwardly.

"I find myself questioning his motives occasionally. He says it is to train her to become the future Kazekage." He sighed before continuing. "Mother has said that I would be a good match for her and while I have never doubted her words, it is a difficult task."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at him. "Ha! Gaara's having girl troubles!"

Unaffected by his words, Gaara switched the conversation. "What was it you've been meaning to speak with me about?" he asked once more.

"Oh yeah, see I'm kinda in a life or death situation here!" His playful nature quickly faded into that of catastrophe and fear. Bringing up a hand and leaning over to whisper in his ear, despite the howls of the sand killing every sort of sound, he told him. "My contract scroll is missing and let's just say _my_ mother is not happy! Bad enough there's a confrontation with the Sound village and if someone else manages to find it before I do and they sign their name, I'll be in a bunch of trouble! I'm a wreck right now, man! You gotta help me!"

"Isn't the Hokage supposed to hold possesion of the scrolls in your village? It isn't like them to carelessly misplace a scroll of the Uzumaki clan." He mused calmly, taking the pleasure of cracking a bemused smile however small it was. "I am aware that the situation is of great importance, but why is it that it is only you who is out looking for it?"

"The Uzumaki are among the greatest tricksters, surpassing every other shinobi in the art of illusions and power, but including you there are a selected few left. The loss of one scroll would be enough to warrant a complete search party, so why is it that you are the only one looking or are there others?"

"Not that I know of. See, I sort of snuck out of the premises." He laughed sheepishly.

"I should've known you'd do that. In any case, my suggestion to you would be to check the land of fire once more. Perhaps you might have left it there."

"But I didn't even have it last time I was in the leaf. I was just a kid!"

Gaara closed his eyes in irritation. How could a creature lose something so important and at such pressing times, too? It was beyond stupidity and it was true that Naruto was not the brightest fox, but even he must have had a mind to know that a summoning scroll was very, very important. This was certainly quite a predicament his friend had gotten into.

* * *

Apparently, using a summoning scroll was not as easy as she thought it was. The jutsu required alot of chakra and quite a bit of it, too. She had gone through all the necessary steps, but so far all she was met with were statues of foxes grinning toothy grins as if to mock her hard work. The scroll lay open in front of her as she sat tired to the point of fainting, panting from all the chakra she had drained out of her. The statues of each fox were scattered all around her, every one of them staring straight at her with narrowed eyes. She half expected one of them if not all, to laugh. Her thumb was bloody from all the small cuts she made for each attempt. There were only ten foxes.

"This isn't going so well..."

Hinata had been going at this for the majority of the day, the hours of light were quickly decending into the hours of night. If she kept this up, she could end up in the hospital. Carelessly using too much chakra was not exactly the smartest thing one would do especially if the work was fruitless. Straightening up, she decided that one more time wouldn't be of much consequence besides, her sister or Neji would probably call on her for dinner soon and explaining where all the statues came from would be very hard to explain. It wasn't that she wanted to hide it from them, in fact they knew that what she possessed was a summonming scroll, but there was the possibility that info of her using the scroll could get leaked to the Hokage and her temper was one thing she did not want to recieve.

"If anything goes wrong... rip the scroll." She murmured quietly. "That would cancel the summoning." Sighing, she stood once more, bit into her thumb for a shallow cut and swiftly performed the hand signs. Kneeling down to the ground she slammed her hands down to mustered up the remaining bits of chakra left and practically willed for _something_ to appear before her.

A poof exploded beneath her and suddenly, her body floated above the floor. Fear sparked within her lavender eyes at the motion of something moving under her; she gasped and flinched at the ghost of a breath brushing past her ankles. Whatever she summoned, it almost filled her entire bedroom. Out of reflex of danger, her Byakugan activated. Paths of chakra channels were made clear before her eyes, all linking towards the center where most of it resided at the core. The color of it was the normal blue, but it was immense; enough to handle ANBU leveled ninja.

"Ahh!"

The smoke cleared, gliding past open windows and gaps in the walls to the outside, revealing two slender and long tails of yellow slithering to curl under such cramped space. At the side of her leg, a large jaw opened to expose sharp fangs. Hinata sat up onto whatever she had summoned, by the feel of it she was sitting backwards.

_**"Well, it has been quite some time, Hinata-chan."**_ A low voice mixed with growls greeted softly.

Surprised and scared out of her mind Hinata glanced behind her to see blue eyes look back at her. They seemed to smile at her even as the owner looked quite uncomfortable in a lowered position, right on his stomach to avoid destroying anything else.

"Uhh..."

The giant fox moved below her slightly and soon poofed into nothing making her fall back on her butt. "Ow..."

A soft laugh drifted to her ears as she looked in front of her to see a young looking man squat down to greet her more properly.

"It's not really a good idea to summon a fox in your own room unless you plan for a few things to get a little broken, ne?"

Her eyes were wide open, still processing that she had actually managed to summon a fox from the scroll and one whom she missed dearly. It wasn't her intended target and she admitted that for a few seconds she thought she had succeeded in getting her friend back, but this was no disappointment. She had so many questions, one involving her best friend, but she was just glad that they hadn't changed all that much.

"Minato-san!" Her arms wound around his neck in her excitement and the man was all too happy to return it.

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** So terribly sorry, but I have to stop there. (Does this count as a cliffhanger?) No worries though, I'll make the next chapter longer, but it won't be till next week instead of the weekend. By the way I'm adding another couple, it was hinted very, very lightly here, but if you can guess who it is well then you get a cookie, however, from what I've seen the couple isn't liked much. While there are couples I dislike, I do not bash, I question, but I do not insult; to each their own so please if you dislike the secondary pairing just ignore it. It's only minor anyway. Mistakes will be fixed later on.**

**Til the next udate. :l**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**** Late, late, late. Everything's late and to top it off it's still not that long... Sorry, but it's really hard going on steam. Motivation is scarce for this fic, no joke. I'll keep trying! X(**

**For now, this will have to do. I'll check for mistakes later.**

* * *

Minato chuckled lightly at the girl holding onto his neck with a firm grip. He had without a doubt missed the young child dearly. It was really a shame that they had to leave so soon back then, but he was all too happy that the young girl hadn't forgotten about them; especially Naruto. The two parted with Minato lightly pushing her away to get a good look of how much she had grown since the last time he had seen her. That particular shyness still lingered in her eyes, but now she was shining more brilliantly than before; she had grown confidence and power. He smiled wide and patted her shoulder.

"It's been far too long, Hinata-chan." he murmured.

She smiled in return. He was just as she remembered; yellow ears, twin-tails and all. It was as if time had not affected the man at all. "It has, Minato-san." she whispered that had it been any other normal being, they wouldn't have caught it, but certainly Minato was no such person. Out of all the tricksters of the clan he was the most sharpest in both hearing and sight, also having immense speed was no disappointment either. Another chuckle escaped the fox as he plopped down to sit on the floor in front of her.

He had closed his eyes slowly and softly as though he were in complete comfort with the smile still on his face. An almost tired sigh escaped him. "Though it is quite a pleasure seeing you again Hinata-chan, I take that I wasn't your intended being in the summoning was I?" his voice did not carry a trace of hurt or displeasure, rather it was gentle and positive, borderline excited. His tails swaye calmly in back of him as he took the opportunity to relax from the outside stresses of the world.

Hinata blushed at his words and quickly nodded in confirmation. He only laughed again. "I thought so." his head lowered with his eyes slowly opening up to stare at a random doll of a rabbit lying in front of him with a statue fox smiling wide lying next to it. "I'm sorry to say that summoning him will be difficult. You must have a connection first before commensing with the jutsu." the smile faded when he lifted his gaze. "It's actually really complicated now since times are so bad." he scratched the back of his head nervously. He didn't want Hinata to be sad, but this was the way it had to be; the shine of his eyes dimmed considerably as he contemplated whether he should really tell her the process of the correct summoning conditions.

"The conditions to summoning us, the Kyuubi, is a high price and the main reason why our numbers are so small compared to other creatures inhabiting the world." his voice was grave and sorrowful as he remembered the past days like vivid paintings. "It wasn'y like that before though."

"Before what?"

"Before my life..." he started, sighing as he flipped his head over to stare at the ceiling.

* * *

"That scroll could kill someone! Do you not realize that! No, of course you don't! Yours is tucked away in a safe called the Kazekage's daughter!" Naruto shouted angrily at the short red-haired beast sitting calmly in front of him with his eyes closed shut in order to keep his mind sound. "Mother's gonna kill me!" he cried pitifully. "Have you seen the way she looks when she's blown a fuse?" he continued. "Her tails destroy everything!" he clutched onto the collar of his dull colored clothing, colliding their heads in a painful headbutt. _"Everything..."_

Gaara sighed at his friend's exaggeration. "I do not doubt your mother's temper, but you must remain calm if you are to find the scroll quickly." he flicked his tail once in a circular motion resulting in making the surrounding sandstorm twirl violently with the motion and create a twisting vortex somewhere in the distance. "Have you ever considered sending out a small search party of lower rank subordinates?" he asked as he focused slightly on moving the sandstorm around in a semi frenzy.

"Lower rank?"

The dumfounded expression the fox wore was enough to disrupt the smooth flow of sand for a second before retaining it's shape. What exactly did they teach the fox children?

"Like this." he made a quick hand sign and with a considerate amount of chakra summoned forth a giant fan floating high above him.

"You called?" a feminine voice asked lightly. Naruto sat there stunned and then scowled at his friend in front of him.

"Temari's not a low ranking subordinate; a million ANBU members wouldn't even be able to get within a foot near her! Which is why it's safe to say she's single..." he mumbled the last part to himself. Gaara only sighed again while Temari placed a hand on her hip with an annoyed look shot at the blonde for his loud obnoxious mouth.

"A lower rank subordinate does not have to be physically weak; just because they do not specialize in one thing does not mean they are disposable. In fact all ranking beasts and even shinobi are critical in any mission no matter how small it may be." he made a gesture with his head towards the girl and with a faint wave of her hand went away with a heavy gust of wind.

"Yeah, yeah I get it, but those little fur-balls won't listen to a single thing I say! They just laugh at me with that annoying little snicker of theirs and run off somewhere else." he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "What good are they?"

"What's good about them is their numbers. They'll be able to cover more ground. Perhaps if you'd quit with your pranks they would listen to you more easily."

"So I burned a few of their tails, so what?"

"That is not the point. That scroll of yours is vital to the Uzumaki clan is it not?" he asked with a firm tone and a keen glare cold enough to dissolve all the humor in the conversation. "You said it yourself that the scroll was also designed for defense against an unknown contractor, correct? All you have to do in order to find out who has it or where it may be is summon a fox."

Annoyed and full of doubt, Naruto looked away from the desert beast and stared at his blood stained hands, wondering if he should go along with the suggestion. "Fine. I'll give it another shot." he relented and quickly did a similar hand sign summoning enough chakra to call four fox statues. For a moment they did nothing and sat there motionless. With a quick intake of air, Naruto blew out a small flame over the stones, the temperature hot enough to burn a bright yellow. He stopped and waited as the stone began to cool and begin to break. Not a minute later they broke apart at the slightest movement caused by the cunning creatures.

"Hey look, it's Naruto!" one of the red colored kits snickered while pointing a single claw at him. At the sound of the familiar taunting tone, a vein popped up at the side of Naruto's head. Clenching his teeth, he struggled not to choke the small thing to death. Gaara simply watched as the small tricksters laughed gleefully, jumping up and down excitedly. "We have good news for you Naruto!"

"Yeah good news!" another piped in effectively drawing in the two's attention and diminishing the murderous fuming.

"What do ya mean 'good news'?"

Not ceasing in their excited antics they continued. "The scroll! The scroll that Kushina-sama asked us to find for her!"

He rolled his eyes at the obvious reason why they would even bother with something related to him. "Well did ya find it?"

"Yeah we did and no! We were summoned!"

"Summoned? By who?"

"It was a woman. A woman summoned us and we were about to perform Penalty!" they laughed again as if their words were nothing but a fun joke. "We were, but then Minato-sama stopped us. The woman summoned Minato-sama!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the news. "That's impossible, no one can summon him." he murmured softly as the small ones continued to jump and laugh lightly. "Where is he?"

"Minato-sama is talking with the woman in the leaf."

"Yeah, at the Hyuga mansion."

The name of Hyuga echoed slowly through his mind as waves of distant memories floated back. He stared at nothing as he recalled the kindness of a young girl helping him right by that lake. Her soft shy voice and her gentle touch at handling the wound inflicted upon him. He didn't even say a word of farewell nor allowed his friend the decency of softening the storm and dashed right through it, running on all fours towards the direction of the village. His mind was blank, his expression empty as he tried to get everything to make sense. He never went back, he never set foot out in the leaf with his scroll. It was always with him, strapped to his back as he scouted the surrounding area of the Sound village with his mother. It wasn't until he fell off a cliff and into a waterfall that the scroll came off and disappeared.

Gaara could only watch as Naruto disappeared into the storm towards the exit and into a path leading to the land if fire. The grinning foxes resumed their laughing, staring up at him like a bunch of starving animals. One by one they poofed away back into their own realm leaving the sand sibling alone in the roaring sandstorm, his face as calm as it ever was.

He blinked only once before a wave of sand passed through him only to reveal nothing in its wake.

* * *

"What do you mean, Minato-san?" Hinata asked, confused that the fox in front of her had grown quiet and mellow. His eyes were dim and the emotions drifting through them were old and distant, but their power seemed eternal.

"A contract with an Uzumaki in no normal contract; it is old and primal. It's akin to a virus." he sighed, flicking one tail to his thigh. "I was not originally a part of the clan, I was not even a kyuubi. I was human."

As if he had spoke some sort of spell, the fox statues sprouted to life without the use of flames. Their sudden appearance startled the girl as they dashed around Minato rapidly, their toothy grins and closed eyes unsettling her to the core. They spoke not a word as they moved and writhed their tails like a dancing flame. The man inside their circle did nothing and said nothing, he only watched them as they moved until one of them jumped out of the circle to face him.

"Minato-sama was not given permission." it spoke happily. "That information is not for a two-tail to speak of."

"Minato-sama has went out of line." another said. "He will be punished by the elders. Not good. Not good." though they spoke as if they were truly concerned, their gazes and laughs were enough for doubts. "We must go back. The snakes are coming."

Hinata watched as their smiles and laughter faded in an instant. Worry began to grow inside her, fear flashing through her lavender eyes at the sight of the man sitting m,otionles in front of her, his ears lowered as if in defeat. "Minato-san?" she whispered, unsure if she could do anything to help her dear old friend. He blinked at the sound of her soft voice, making the haze clear up a little from within.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan, my visit seems to have been cut short." he cleared his throat and stood with the foxes dispersing in smoke. "I seem to have babbled a bit. Anyway, I'll tell you some good news before I take my leave." he took a few steps forward and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Naruto will come for this scroll soon. " that was all he said before he disappeared the same way he came with the smaller ones following close behind leaving Hinata to stand there in a daze, allowing the small information to sink in. Naruto would be coming for the scroll.

A knock brought her out of her thoughts, startling her. "Hinata-sama, dinner is ready." it was Neji right behind her door. She looked around frantically at the sight of her room in such a complete mess from Minato's appearance and the running around of the foxes she had summoned. It looked as if a typhoon had entered her dwelling soundlessly and should anyone see it, they would certainly get suspicious.

"Uh, thank you Neji, but I'll join a little later." she tried, hoping he wouldn't get curious and peek inside.

"Are you well?" he asked placing a hand on the handle.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just looking for a book right now. It's been missing for awhile and I just really want to find it right now. Don't worry I'm sure father won't mind."

Just as she'd hoped, her cousin's footsteps faded down the hall and she let out a sigh of relief at the heavenly sound. When she opened her eyes she glanced over at the scroll held open with the name staring back at her. She began to get anxious at the thought of seeing Naruto after so long, if she had changed drastically in such a time then it would be no surprise to see that little injured fox grown up bigger and possibly stronger than before. It was without a doubt possible. A smile crept onto her lips as a thought lingered in her head in fragil hopes that they would happen; the small urge to play another game with her best friend. She knew it was childish, but those were the times where she was most happy.

She reached down to pick up a doll of a bunny with an x-shaped mouth and one ear slightly torn at the edge. "It's like we're playing hide and seek right now, but I wonder if he is really looking for me like I am for him. What do you think?" she asked the rabbit as she moved to sit on the bed ignoring the broken things of her room and letting her mind wander into her mind and memories. A blush appeared faintly on her face as the thought of meeting face to face again made her stomach flutter nervously and uncertainty sink in. "He probably grew stronger than me, I wonder if he'd still consider me a good friend."

It was such a silly thought. She loved him dearly and knew that he cherished friends just as deeply as he cherished her like she was a part of his family. But she was only human and humans have flaws, it was not hard for hearts to become clouded in simple things, but that was something no one could help with unless that person was the source. Soon she would know if he had really missed her just as she missed him; all she had to do was hold on to that scroll.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**** Thank you all for your reviews. They really helped me to develope this next chapter that simply popped up out of nowhere. Um, I have one small question though, is there really a correct way to spell Hyuga/Hyuuga? 'Cause seriously, it's screwing with my head... Oh and do be warned (or happy), this one's long.**

* * *

Night had fallen over the dense forests as Naruto continued to run without care for the blood spreading on his palms or the way his chest would constrict painfully with each instant breath. More than once, he had collided against thick trees and on occasion he would accidentally step on a poor unsuspecting creature taking a nap in the young kyuubi's path. That explained the few bite and claw marks etched onto his flesh and drenching his once beautiful clean yellow fur with blood, mingling with the dirt and caked mud, but he didn't care. Sure, the wounds burned like a raging fire on his nerves, but the fact that his scroll of which was dire to his whole clan, was sitting somewhere within the Hyuga grounds was far more important than a bit of stings, especially since the Hyuga drifting about in his mind was a high candidate for holding the object. Excitement fueled endlessly inside his core and with a powerful push of his limbs he leapt onto a nearby branch and stilled instantly, allowing his aching body a moments rest before he continued.

He exhaled a deep sigh of relief as he sat back on his feet, his tail swaying from the movement as it lay limp behind him. His body was screaming for sleep, but he was far too anxious to fall into slumber's sweet embrace. The blond sniffed lightly at the air and was all too quick to catch the start of a flame in both sight and smell. His eyes darted to the far left of his position and found the location of the tamed fire, a faint cloud of grey smoke curling into the air. Ears flattened to his head as he leaned forward as if to catch sight of whomever was responsible for creating it; soon enough, as of every creature of the forest, he deemed the act as none of his business and resumed with his journey back to where his old home used to be, completely avoiding the area. His form became a bright blur in the darkness of night and he would have made it into the villages gates by the morning at the rate he was going had it not been for a small insignificant snag of his foot and a whistle of metal flying through the wind.

A yelp tore through his throat as he was hauled out of balance and fell flat on his stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Wire metal coiled tight around his ankle and something fairly sized, cool and all too familiar pierced into his abdomen. "Oww..." he moaned as he pushed himself onto his elbows trying to regain his lost breath. When he opened his eyes, the moonlight did well to reflect it's light onto his bright blue gaze becoming a phantom's sight in the murky night. He took in the condition he was in and found that he was caught in a hunter's trap.

"Aww, those fur-balls will sure get a kick out of this if they were to ever see me like this... But I need to go back." he whined as he glared angrily at the offending object. A low growl ripped through clenched teeth as he reached for the wire and tried to cut it loose with his claws. A full minute went by and all he was met with was burning fingers and the thing still wrapped around him in a vise. "Darn it. I'll have to burn it off."

Before he could even inhale enough oxygen for the flame, a shuffling sound of leaves in the far distance caught his attention. The fur at the back of his neck rose up at the smell of humans invading his senses. His fangs were already bared before he could even think to do so. Lifting his body off the ground, he sat in a crouching position, arms and legs apart in a stance for attack, ignoring the pain coursing through him. Closer and closer the subtle sounds approached him, the louder they grew the more his fur would rise on end. Bitter smells burned at his nostrils now, the scent of burnt wood and black ink making his mind go crazy in hate for the painful aroma. It wasn't until a moment after that he decided to try and go for a less conflicting encounter and quickly rushed through swift hand signs before the human would suspect anything wrong.

Sai didn't really think that his trap would actually snag something since it was placed so poorly and out in the open. Really, he meant for it to be a joke for Sakura. She would always lose her cool whenever he made a crucial mistake, that didn't disrupt a mission, and it served for quite a sight with her head fuming out hot steam and a whole lot of yelling that made it seem like she came from a family of apes. The only thing bad about it was when she decided to involve her fists. A shiver of memory pain ran through his entire being at the thought of their first meeting. Oh well, at least now tonight would be rather peaceful after having to go through a bunch of terrain just for a simple B-rank mission. He landed softly onto the ground from a branch; quietly he brought out a kunai and kneeled down to see what was stupid enough to actually get caught in a child's trap. What he saw made him blink blankly.

"It's just a baby fox." he stated simply seeing the whimpering kit struggle against it's bonds pathetically, shooting him a pleading look. "I wonder if it lost its mother or something..." he continued to stare at it curiously before leaning forward and slicing through the wire with ease.

* * *

"I wonder what's taking Sai so long to check a few traps. He should've been back by now." Sakura grumbled while looking at the flickering flames Kakashi had set up to cook the batch of fish she and Sasuke had caught just an hour earlier. "I swear if he misplaced those things I'll break both his arms and then his legs." she growled threateningly as the Uchiha merely sat on a log and poked at the base of the fire.

"I'm sure he did a fine job on placing the traps, Sakura. No need to worry about it. He's always precise about these things." Kakashi's words did little to calm the girl's gnawing temper as her foot tapped impatiently against the dirt ground glaring daggers at the sensei with his nose stuck in a book.

"I think he's back." Sasuke murmured.

"Sai, I swear if you came back with nothing I'm gonna-" she was instantly silenced by a sudden raise of his arm holding the infant fox by the wire, its body dangling upside-down at level with the pink haired girl's face. "What is that?"

Naruto swiftly looked back and forth frantically between the two with wide fearful eyes, hoping to death the man would say pet instead of-

"Dinner of course, what else would it be?" he said it with quite a smile that even the color of Naruto's fur paled to a stone white.

**_"There is no way I'm being your guy's dinner!"_**

Black baby eyes quickly smoldered into a burning red when he saw that this little charade would do nothing to set him free. Growling an inhumane growl, he violently kicked his way out of Sai's grasp and jumped onto the ground, the brown fur of a kit glowing back to its usual yellow as his bones rearranged themselves to the size of a human's except having the complete facial features of a true fox.

"Sai what the hell did you bring back to the camp?"

Said male could only stare blankly at the display of the transformation in front of them. Sasuke was already standing beside them with one hand reaching for the sword strapped to his back in case a fight was inevitable. Kakashi had stood as well and quietly placed the book back into his pocket as Naruto completely reverted back into a semi-complete form of a Kyuubi. His lips were pulled back, revealing several sharp fangs, his crimson eyes fixated on the group with fierce intent. He was hoping they would fear him like so many had in the past and allow him passage through the forests, he had to get back for his scroll and for that one chance to see those caring lavender eyes that _wanted_ to be in his company.

"Kakashi, what sort of creature is this?" Sasuke asked calmly, keeping his gaze strictly on the large fox that growled his rage lowly. The silver haired male had also kept his lone gaze locked on Naruto, but took a moment to assess the situation. There was something familiar ringing in his head, but for some reason or another, he couldn't make sense of it.

"Well, if he's anything like what I've heard, I'd say this would be a summoned beast of a shinobi." he quickly noted the subtle narrowing of one red eye as he said this, knowing he had hit the correct mark. "Tell me, beast, who summoned you? We really don't mean to cause you harm if that can be avoided." he tried to calm him down and for a moment it seemed like it was working until...

"For a summoned beast, he isn't that bright is he, Uchiha?" Sai had meant to only whisper this to his teammate, but Naruto's ear twitched at his words.

_**"Hey, shut up! I'm in a hurry to get something back and you idiots are in my way! If I were you, I wouldn't be saying anything!"**_

With abandoned thought, he lunged at the two with sharp claws; his temper getting the best of him. A strong gust of burning flames escaped his throat singing the very ground to embers. His tail thrashed wildly back and forth in an attempt to sweep the others away and make for a path towards his destination. His tactics looked to have worked and without anymore means of delay he jumped back onto the path and dashed forward.

"Hey sensei, he seems to be headed for the village!" Sakura's voice reached his ears and just before the tip of a short sword could stab his hide, he twisted into the air and faced his opponents. He growled lowly at them in rage for keeping him; at this rate he would have to wait until another nightfall to heal his wounds should he go through with this battle. The four-man squad quickly took their positions around him, obviously getting the impression that he wished to bring harm to what he assumed was the leaf. At the very least it confirmed that he was headed for the right direction. Naruto was so caught up in his own mind that he failed to recognize the bright waves of fire washing through and burning his fur and flesh.

_**"Arrghhh!"**_ he let out a cry of pain and stumbled backward, letting his tail sweep all about him to keep away more unnecessary injuries. His tail managed to smack one of them out of balance and fall painfully against a tree. Furiously scratching away the embers of hot flames he glared at the group and saw that the one he had knocked away was Sakura. His ears perked up as a new idea came to him: Use the girl to allow quiet escape. Sure it sounded evil, but he just wanted to get back; was that so bad?

With a fierce roar he pounced and aimed his claws at Sakura, her head was lowered as her mind throbbed in a daze. She could hear the shouts of her teammates call out to her, the subtle sound of barking dogs faint in the background, but all she was able to do was crack a single eyes open. He was so close to clasping razor sharp claws into her skin until he flashed a look of bewilderment. There was a thud and a large gust of wind blowing through her; she dared not to open her eyes even as the position put her at an advantage of a strike. Her head hurt too much to move a single finger.

Naruto's eyes had cooled back to the bright blue shining in the moon's glow as he stared wide-eyed at the headband glinting at his face. The numerous jaws clamping shut on his legs were numb to him as his snout clicked to a close. He realized now, why they had bothered to try and stop him. These ninja of the hidden leaf had thought he was going to wreck havoc on their village; another thought soon took root in his mind. Every movement stilled, his rage calming as he took her by the collar of her shirt, ignoring the prickling fangs of the hounds released upon him, and gently placed her on the ground in front of her friends. All three of them stared at him with wary eyes, their hands still poised to attack.

_**"I didn't realize you were from the leaf."**_ his voice rumbled deeply in his chest as his jaw moved up and down as if actually forming the words. _**"I am looking for something important you see, and I really can't afford to waste time."**_

Kakashi was the first to relax his posture while the other two remained stiff, breathing slowed and eyes glaring unblinkingly at the human-shaped fox talking to them. "Might I ask what it is you are looking for, fox?" he inquired softly, making sure that his summoned beasts held on tight.

Naruto spared him a look and thought about his words. The man before him lacked the smell of lies or anything suspicious, but one could never be too careful. He sighed heavily and poofed into smoke, killing off his form, forcing the dogs to disperse and remain on standby. Naruto's normal form reflected that of a teenage boy with an orange sweater and matching tattered pants worn from his search. Behind him rested the hardly known mark of his clan. His spikey blond hair was messy and dirty, hanging over and sticking to his face in sweat. He sighed tiredly, his ears lowering and tail flopping uselessly onto the dusty ground as he made to explain his current predicament.

"So, you weren't summoned by a ninja?"

"Nope, haven't made a contract with anyone yet. They have to be really skilled to have a contract with me."

"Hmph, you don't really look like a very powerful summoning, what with your pathetic appearance." it was the Uchiha that commented and Naruto responded with an insulted scowl, glaring daggers at the male and baring his fangs.

"Hey, I trained real hard to earn that scroll and now that I have it, it proves that my powers are worth participating in a war! I don't know what kinda rank you guys are, but I doubt any of you could pull off summoning a kyuubi!"

"So is that what your clan goes by?" this time it was the artist who spoke up.

"You bet!"

"Now why does that word sound familiar?" Kakashi mused out loud seeing that the fox-like boy had passed through his rampage and was speaking in a sort of friendly way with his students. All humor aside, he did try to remember the term, but his mind was hazy and failed to bring up the informtion that seemed most crucial. "Tell you what, Naruto. We're heading back to the village in the morning, we could escort you there to find your scroll."

Immediately the boy's face lit up in a wide grin. "Really? You'd help me find my scroll?" he asked hopefully, though he knew he was supposed to be wary of ninjas, these people were residents and fellow shinobi of the village his mother was assigned to protect, so really what harm could there possibly be? "I'll be sure to repay you!" he pointed a prideful thumb to his chest in a promise.

"First thing's first; we have to wait for Sakura-chan here to wake up." he pointed to the girl lying unconscience on the ground. Naruto stared at her in wonder. "She's our medic of the team and could easily heal your wounds, but I do think an apology would be in order. You did gave us quite a start back there, my poor dogs could barely keep their grip."

"Oh yeah..." he continued to stare at the girl curiously and began to feel guilt weigh heavy on him. A single ear flicked curiously in a twitch as he examined her more closely. "Her name is the same as the cherry blossoms." he whispered this to himself, careful to avoid the other male's ears, but he could very easily catch the scent of the petals. A light blush hinted over his cheeks only to have him shake it away at the odd warmth heating into his face.

The time it took for Sakura to awaken from her sleep was a small hour, waking with a dull throb of her head and a few stinging scratches from the impact of wood. "Ugh..." she moaned unpleasantly as the colors slowly separated to become their distinct shapes. She woke up to the warmth of the fire and the shadows of her friends sitting close by. "What happened?" she asked softly as they all turned their attention to her, seeing if there were any lasting injuries to her head or on any part of her body.

"We're still in the woods. Turned out that the 'dinner' Sai caught was a special kyuubi." Sasuke answered with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

"Special?"

"Yes, he's looking for his scroll that had gotten lost while on a scouting mission."

"Oh..." she lifted herself up, already bringing the green colored chakra to her head, healing whatever wounds remained. "So where is he now?"

"He's asleep over there. Kakashi-sensei thought it would be best for you to heal him. He's been searching nonstop for quite a while. Came all the way from Sunagakure."

Sakura could only stare at the two, catching a small glimpse of the sleeping form just a little ways ahead of her. She was wary of him that's for sure, but at least now she could see that for now he meant no harm. She remembered just the moment before she fell in darkness' embrace that he had stopped himself from potentially ripping her apart. "Fine, but I swear if he's out for blood again, I'm gonna sacrifice one of you two." she grumbled bitterly, walking over to heal the fox while they simply stared at her.

"Tch, as if a small-fry could actually be lethal."

"Hm, you never know," Sai smiled. "Foxes are said to be quite aggressive when it concerns a mate." the artist nin was met with an odd look from the Uchiha, but he only responded with an inquisitive and confused expression. "What?" Sasuke simply glared as he turned away to finish the remains of his fish, intentionally taking the other's share.

"... That was mine..."

* * *

The one-tailed fox was up past the morning lights, stirred awake by the prodding of a wooden brush. "Get that thing away from me... Leave me alone..." he groaned sleepily, plopped onto his stomach lazily; ears flat and tail limp, his body still far too exhausted from his endless search.

"We're gonna be late in arriving at the village. If you won't wake up, we'll leave you and then how will you sneak in without getting caught?"

"Easy, a transformation jutsu..."

"That's a nice try, but medical jonin would be able to tell you're not human in an instant and think something fishy would be at hand. You'd have to change your entire chakra signature to fool us."

The blond whipped around to spot the female tugging her pack onto her back, her face showing irritable signs of aggravation. He spoke not a word as she walked through followed by Kakashi with his book still glued to his face.

"Come on, Naruto. We'll be there in no time." he assured as they all began their trek back to the village. The group had started off walking at their own pace, but Naruto had become annoyed that their pace was laxed and without haste compared to the speed he was going when alone. He would've been there by now if it weren't for that stupid trap and his poor sense of caution to his surroundings. A shiver chilled at his back; yup, his mother would've scolded him harshly by now, too. Now, after a lot of convincing, team seven and their new friend had bolted into a sprint through the trees.

"Hey Naruto, I know that you're not actually human and all, but is there by any chance a way for you to hide your ears and tail?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"I guess, but is it really necessary? I mean I get a lot of good balance with my tail..."

"Well I don't mean to be rude, but not many are too fond of beasts walking about. We've had quite a bit of problems whenever Jiraiya comes along with his toads..." he stayed silent for a moment. "Then again, it's usually the women that complain..."

"Aww come on Kakashi, what harm could possibly happen with them out? I'd much rather use an illusion." he grumbled, already raising his hands to commense with the jutsu tipping just at his fingertips.

"Ah no, I don't think that would be a good idea. The Hokage might not find that acceptable and may take precautionary measures to ensure nothing goes wrong. Simply explaining the information to her would be the best course of action. Your scroll would be found in no time that way."

"... I don't know..." he glanced at his tail lost in his thoughts before turning back to him. "I guess it'll be fine for a little while, but if something happens and they pop out, I will not take any blame for it!" he declared before using a quick jutsu to hide his tail and ears.

'I'd better not get stabbed again either...' he thought inwardly.

* * *

"You ready Hinata?" Kiba called from outside the Hyuga complex as the girl tried to hurry up and strap on the large scroll on her back, similar to the way Ten-Ten held hers.

"Yup!" she called and stepped out with her gear, approaching her two friends that were still feeling a little bad that Tsunade had discouraged their dear teammate from using the scroll. She looked at them questionably for their expressions. "What?"

"You're going to take the scroll with you?" it was Shino who calmly asked.

"Yeah, I know Neji nii-san is here and would be quick to take care of this for me, but I feel better keeping it close." she smiled awkwardly at them with their gazes looking unconvinced.

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Mm-hm! W-we'd better hurry and get that special item Tsunade-sama wanted us to deliver." Without leaving anymore time for the two to say anything, she turned and promptly went towards the Hokage tower. Akamaru barked loudly, wagged his tail and went to join in her step, earning a nice pat on the head and leaving the other two to share an uncertain glance.

The moment Naruto entered past the gates and into the streets of the stores and restraunts, his nose immediately became engulfed in the familar, yet exhilerating smells of food. His stomach audiably growled loud and clear in response and would have instantly headed straight for the nearest shop had there not been a sudden new smell overruling the rest. He ignored the calls and shouts of both Kakashi and Sakura and instead whipped his head back and forth in search of the all too familiar scent. Head after head of villagers obstructed his view, even when he had sharpened his eyesight with red; nothing worked. The scent was rapidly getting faint and in a rush of panic he had crouched down low to keep it alive, following its trail through the crowds.

"Naruto wait!"

Farther and farther he went away from the group, now trying to catch up by the rooftops, but even then it proved to be a task. "That idiot's going to run into trouble."

"What do you mean, Sai?"

"He's headed straight for Neji."

The damage couldn't have been prevented. Naruto in his confusion had alrady pounced to try and catch the one he had mistaken. Unfortunately, his presence was quickly noted without the aid of the young man's teammates standing at either side of him; barely within his range the kyuubi boy suffered a grating force of chakra grinding painfully into his bare skin.

"Too late..."

"Ow! What was that for I was just..." he pulled himself into a sitting position and took a good look at who he thought was his dear old friend. "Hey what's the big idea!? You're not Hinata-chan!" he growled and leapt back on his feet, his anger forgetting the control he had on his jutsu allowed his ears and tail to poof into existence, bristling wildy in his rage.

"What are you talking about?" the brown-haired male asked quietly while his two friends took their places to stand beside him, their faces showing equal confusion.

"Is this a friend of yours, Neji?"

"I'll assure you that I know nothing of this beast." he answered quickly, shooting a glare at Naruto as his sharp eyes took in the newcomer with cold interest. "But I will have to ask: what is your relationship to Hinata-sama? What sort of association do you have with her?"

"That's none of your business!" he screamed, crossing his arms over his chest and growling.

"Actually Naruto, it kind of is." Sai jumped in. "Neji-san is Hinata-san's cousin as part of the Hyuga clan. I thought it would have been obvious with their similar eye color.

"Whatever, I don't care who this guy is, if he put's on a girl's perfume than I'd rather not know him at all!" he shoved his face in the other direction as if to emphasize his point. Lee and Ten-Ten's eyes widened at his words and gave Neji, who was fuming in silent anger, an odd look.

Sensing that the situation was not looking well, the eccentric youthful Lee thought it would help to encourage his friend. "Don't worry about it Neji! Women's perfume always smell better than anything else! Even for guys!" He patted his friend good-heartedly on the back while Ten-Ten cautiously tried to pick up the mentioned smell only to arch an eyebrow in confusion. She couldn't smell anything strange on him.

"That is not it!" he seethed, moving his hands to get the two away from his person. "A bottle of Hinata's perfume was thrown at me on accident the day before. I had thought I washed it off thoroughly; how is it that you can still smell it? Not even Kiba or Akamaru's nose could detect it."

Naruto was still reluctant to acknowlege him, but spared him a glance as he smoothed out his ruffled tail, completely forgetting the agreement with Kakashi who stayed in the shadows of the trees nearby to see how this little dispute would play out. It was only after a couple of extra bickering minutes that he realized what the argument _really _was about.

"Hey uh, Naruto? Are you perhaps looking for Hinata-chan as wel?" he asked with a sinking feeling.

"Yeah why?"

"Oh my, you really do have a horrible case of bad luck. Hinata-chan was scheduled to leave for a mission not too long ago. In fact I'm sure you just missed her."

"What!? Where? Where is she headed? Please, you have to tell me, my scroll! She has my scroll!"

Kakashi could only blink at the violume Naruto had raised his voice. 'No wonder the scroll thing was so familiar.' He cleared his throat and composed himself, exterminating any humor lingering on his face. "I'm sorry Naruto, but she's headed for Sunagakure for a delivery mission on behalf of the Hokage."

There was a dull thud of his body falling to the ground in a heap. "B-but... I was just there! Aw man!"

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** Yes, I understand that I can be painfully cruel, especially leaving it there... Heheh... Oh, and just in case someone gets the wrong idea, I'm not one to write or read NaruSaku fics so be assured there's not any of that. But I did work my butt off for this chapter even when I was feeling sick. My brain is currently fried because long chapters for me are the most difficult to correct and re-read, but sometimes I don't just 'cause I'm tired. Ugh, I feel like I did a horrible job on it (I think I rushed). X(**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**** I don't know about any of you guys, but whatever I write always sounds like its rushed to me... Weird huh? Anyway I tried my best on this one so if there are any mistakes do tell me and I'll fix em up if I can. And seriously if you don't like the way the fic is then simply don't read it; just stop. Or you could help by offering constructive criticizm; I did state before that I was not entirely sure of Naruto fics, but am still giving it a shot. **

* * *

"This stinks, how come nobody told me we needed goggles for this mission?" Kiba complained with a hand covering a majority of his eyes as the three, along with Akamaru, went through the relentless storm.

"We told you to come prepared. It should not have taken someone to remind you since sandstorms are quite common in the Land of Winds." Shino retorted. "Your own carelessness is at fault." Akamaru whined in response.

"You know you could've reminded me, Akamaru..." the large canine barked loudly at his friend with a smug grin. "Yeah, yeah..." he grumbled.

The three continued to walk through the waves of sand rushing through them unaware of a pair of turquiose eyes watching them from afar. The sand beast could clearly see that the three of them were from the Leaf if they were strong enough to ignore his sandstorm. The cloaks they wore were a special material that could withstand a strike of kunai and the by the rate his sand was rushing at, it was enough to tear their flesh with many cuts that were significantly harmless by themselves, but as a whole they would pose quite a problem for even a person of ANBU level. Even Akamaru was cloaked from head to toe to fight against the weather.

Certain of his sight despite the countless grains, Gaara went forth to meet with the small group. When he appeared in front of them, the sand cleared a way for him as a swirl of sand came together to create his body. They stopped in surprise of the sudden action and quickly jumped away to take on a defensive stance to whatever would obstruck them from completing their given assignment. Gaara took no notice of their reaction and continued to materialize at an even pace with his arms crossed over his chest and tail swaying with the wind behind him. Near completion he opened his bright colored eyes to address himself properly.

"I am the Sand Guardian of Sunagakure; Gaara. Please show your proof of the Kazekage's requested item." he said in a formal tone making sure never to break contact with them, but taking extra notice of the large scroll strapped to Hinata's back and narrowing his eyes slightly in suspicion.

"The Sand Guardian, eh? So it's safe to say that you're the one in control of this sandstorm, right? Mind if I ask that you go a bit easy on us?" the canine specialist questioned as he brought out a rather thick, but narrow box from his bag. Upon seeing the familiar rectangular item he nodded and turned to clear a path free of the biting particles and looked back at them with a cool expression free of emotion.

"Allow me to be your escort to the Kazekage's tower."

Both Hinata and Kiba smiled gratefully as they began to follow him while Shino merely remained silent. The walk towards the village was now calm and pleasant compared to their sprinting from tree to tree and bearing the dry storm head on.

When Gaara saw the box in Kiba's hands he couldn't help but feel a little irked at the sight and turned his head towards Hinata opening his mouth to ask, "Might I ask where the one to request such a valuable item is at the moment?" Hinata couldn't help but smile shyly at his obvious question.

"He was needed for another mission and was unable to make it here to thank the Kazekage properly. Shikamaru-san felt really bad about not being able to and even made arrangements to thank the Kazekage with a present. He placed it inside with the item before he left it to the Hokage. We were asked to deliver it and apologize for him."

Gaara turned ahead to think over what the girl had said and closed his eyes in silent acceptance, he then turned his attention to the questionable scroll behind her. "That scroll is familiar. Is it perhaps a part of the Toads?" he asked. Starting up a conversation was certainly something Gaara was not known to do, but this was for his friend and he had an odd suspicion that he probably had not made it to the Land of Fire even though such a thought was preposturous to even think about. Naruto always meant to finish out whatever he had set his mind to and it was hard to even think that he would stop for a bit just to rest, it was common sense to do so, but Naruto's common sense didn't really match everyone else's.

"Toads, you mean like Jiraiya-san?" she asked and then shook her head in the negative, feeding Gaara's curiosity further and practically voicing the answer in his head. "No, this scroll is special... It doesn't summon frogs or snakes. It's-"

"Look we're here!" Kiba said too loud for their liking despite the howling of the rushing winds. The two looked up to see that they were indeed at the entrance of the village where two jounin came up to meet with them. With one glance to Gaara, they immediately straightened up stiffly and gestured for all of them to carry through to the Kazekage.

For the duration of the walk Gaara did not speak a word of question to Hinata's unfinished sentence already knowing that it was Naruto's scroll without a doubt in mind. Hinata didn't bring it back up either feeling that it would be too much to speak with those she did not know much about. It wasn't often that the villagers see the 'Monster of the Desert' as they have called him before, move among them and a majority of the population were not comfortable in his presence at all, but none said a word to him or the company around him either. Soon enough, they finally made it to the Kazekage's Tower.

They knocked once before Gaara allowed them entrance by personally opening the door and looked at them to go in. Sitting on the single large chair was indeed the Kazekage reading through various documents and at the side holding another stack of papers was a young girl around their age group with a large heavy looking gourd strapped to her back.

"Ah, hello there. I assume you are the ninja of the Leaf, correct?" the man straightened up, setting down his pen and smiling kindly at the three.

"Yup. We're of the Inuzuka, Aburame and Hyuga clan sent here on behalf of the Hokage." Kiba was the one to go forward and hand the box over to him.

"Ah yes, a perfect combination to protect the treasured Fan." his smile widened at the sight of the box and was eager to open it. He was not disappointed in the least when he saw the purple colored fan stare back at him with a single red ruby embedded at the end of the black lining of the closed fan. There was a note hidden underneath the velvet bottom of the box, but he chose not to look at it until later. "I presume the contract went well for the Nara boy, hm?"

"Heh, it wasn't all a walk in the park, that woman was a frightful thing!" Kiba held no reserve for mentioning the summoned creature and shuddered at the damage she had done back home. His words only made the man chuckle in understanding.

"Yes, that Temari was never one to go easy on a soul, but it is nice to know that all has went well for them both. Oh yes, where is the boy?"

"I'm afraid he couldn't make it here, Tsunade-sama had already assigned him to another urgent mission and was unable to come and thank you properly."

He nodded once. "I understand, well I am glad that we were able to be a bit of extra help to the Leaf after all the trouble they went through to help us in the past." Satisfied with the turn of events he sighed and turned his attention to the silent escort. "Thank you Gaara for accompanying them here, I would have sent Matsuri, but I'm a bit short on help here as you can see..."

The girl standing shyly beside the Kazekage merely bowed slightly in greeting. "I am sorry I could not greet you at the entrance of the village." she said quietly while sending an apologetic smile towards all of them.

"Whoa wait a minute, are you the one who summoned Gaara to make that huge sandstorm?" Kiba asked with narrowed eyes. Immediately the girl averted her eyes at his words and shook her head lightly.

"No, my father is the only one able to summon Gaara of the Desert. I am still trying to learn the technique." she gestured to the gourd on her back and smiled sheepishly at them. "I've only signed the contract, but I still have a long ways to go before I can be able to do it." she explained until something else caught her attention. "Hm?"

"Oh, I wasn't aware that any of the Hyugas could summon a beast. If I may ask, which one is that one?" she pointed to the crimson colored scroll. Poor Hinata was not one to lie and it was something she detested unless it was inevitable for missions and such, but she was not supposed to know what the scroll was either after Tsunade's words, so imagine the subtle relieved expression she made when Kiba took the opportunity to answer instead of her.

"We're not so sure what it summons yet. We're still trying to get info on the previous owner." he winked at her and she only smiled. None of what was said and done escaped the watchful eyes of the Guardian still standing at the doorway of the Kazekage's office.

"How strange..." Matsuri mumbled, tilting her head to the side in confusion before straightening herself. "I suppose it isn't any of my business to pry, please excuse the question." she bowed with her apology, but Hinata was quick to raise up her hands in protest.

"It's no big deal, please don't worry about it."

It really was no big deal for them at least, but Hinata really wanted to be with Naruto again and she was absolutely determined to try her hardest to do so. As they continued to talk about the going ons of each village, Gaara was careful to analyze the scroll as best he could from his place and was left to wonder how Naruto could have missed running into the girl. It was irking to say the least, but he would not question for there was no one to question at the moment. For a moment he wondered if he should take the scroll himself and return it to the Foxes knowing that such a thing was vital for the small clan, but there was a chance that Naruto would be at the village waiting for it. He was never certain on trusting his gut on the boy who was no older than him, yet the Hyuga girl had a certain aura to her. Something that told him to stand his ground and let things go as they may. In the end he was left to simply watch as an opportunity slipped past him.

* * *

"Now Naruto, I know that you're in a hurry and such, but I assure you that putting up a tantrum will do nothing. Hinata and the others will be back within the day, it's just a matter of patience."

"But if I could just rush over there and bump into them, then it would make everything go faster..." he grumbled leaning against a tree as he watched the three of Kakashi's students spar in a training field. With every kunai, shuriken or ink created bird flew in his direction all he had to do was wave his tail across in front of him to bat the things away and avoid getting hit. Once in a while the sharp edges would prick and slice at his tail, but even that was not enough to get him to wince or make a sound of pain.

"Hinata would be headed here, common sense says that there's a complete one hundred percent chance that you'll see her here. You could however do some training or roam the village a bit to make the time go faster. Perhaps read a book," to this he raise his eyes to him. "I could give you a few suggestions." he hinted at him. The boy only made a face at him in disgust.

"I've heard a lot from the toads and I am certain that I'm underage for that kind of stuff."

"You're no fun." he hummed a chuckle and returned to his current page. "Oh well, I suppose you wouldn't even understand half of the glorious storyline anyway."

Despite his comment Naruto did take into consideration on how to pass the time. He could roam around a bit in his fox form and pull a few pranks just for old time's sake or even see how the people changed. A spar with Kakashi's team didn't really sound so bad either, but the smell of burned ink did not suit well with his nose and he most definitely didn't want to be in the recieving end of the pink haired woman's punch after witnessing a fresh crater blossoming from her knuckles when she missed the Uchiha boy. He shuddered at that last part and decided that simply staying on the sidelines would be enough for now.

"So I suppose you're the summoned beast of that red scroll that Hinata had been carrying around?" Kakashi asked after a bit of time had passed. At his words Naruto could only stare at him in confusion.

"I guess, but what I don't get is how my scroll managed to come here of all places."

"I will say that I don't completely get the whole thing myself, but if memory serves correctly, Kurenai-sensei had said that before the passing of the Third Hokage, he had given her a scroll to keep."

Naruto's eyes widened at the words he spoke of. He knew that the old man had passed, but the mention of it always made his heart sink a little more inside. He vaguely remembered the kindness the man portrayed whenever he visited his parents and even brought a toy for him a couple of times. "But that can't be, I've only had my scroll for a couple of years now, not that far back." he explained. "It couldn't have possibly been in his hands then."

Kakashi could only shrug at him. "I don't suppose there could have been two scrolls, hm?"

The conversation had unfortunately stopped there and the blond could only mull over his thoughts over and over about the scroll, but all the possibilities just wouldn't add up in the end. The evening came around and the long training session had finally ended with all three of the ninja exhausted and ready to go home. Hinata and her teammates had yet to return and it was still driving Naruto up the wall with impatience. Of the team, Sasuke was the first to leave for home followed by Sai who simply said he was in need of more ink and drawing utensils leaving Sakura with Kakashi and Naruto.

"I take that they haven't returned yet, huh?" she asked lightly while wiping a hand on her forehead. The two nodded at her and she sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go home and wash all this grime and ink off me. Stupid Sai and his stupid ink..." she mumbled bitterly while heading off for home.

"Well Naruto, I have some other business to take care of. I trust that you won't cause some trouble?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and he only mumbled an annoyed 'yes'.

"Good. However, if they haven't come by nightfall, I don't mind making room at my place or arrange for another place if you're not too comfortable." he offered, but the once energetic boy only shook his head.

"Thanks, but I already have a place in mind." he smiled widely at the man and though surprised he already had somewhere to stay, Kakashi didn't question it further and bid him farewell.

Now on his own, Naruto decided to see exactly how much things had changed in the course of the years he had been absent. He did as was suggested from Kakashi and hid his ears and tail once more to look around the stalls and stores of the village, but was mostly drawn towards a familiar old park that thankfully remained standing in the same place with a few added constructions to its collection of swings and slides. He couldn't help but smile at the times he played with the Hyuga girl that helped him all those years ago and wondered if she missed him as much as he missed her. He really didn't want to leave when they had to, but like every kit born into the Uzumaki clan he had to start training. It seemed unfair that he couldn't even tell her about it, but there was simply nothing that could be done.

"Maybe I could at least get her a gift or something..." he wondered to himself with a faint smile tugging at his lips. A small laugh slid through as he remembered quite well that Hinata liked cinnamon rolls and could barely contain her happiness when his mother tried her hand at baking them. His smile only widened to a grin when he thought of seeing her smiling face and just simply dashed back to the bakery he had seen that had such treats out on display.

When he got there, however, he forgot the whole fact that he did not exactly carry money with him. Currency was never really on his mind when he had been searching for the blasted scroll, but whatever cash he had did not amount to much; not even for candy, but was it really hard to trick a few villagers while a fox? For him, not even a lick of effort was needed and was quick to transform into a normal looking red fox with the same grin plastered onto his snout. Yes, getting a small batch of cinnamon rolls was bound to be an easy task. Just when he was about to slide into the store something grabbed hold of his tail and tugged none too gently away from the door. The jutsu immediately broke off.

"Hey!"

"And what do you think you're doing, fox?" a very displeased female voice questioned. Looking up he saw that the one to stop him had been none other than Sakura herself.

"Aww, it was just a bit of cinnamon rolls, no one would miss them! Besides I had no money to give." he said lowly crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance. "I just wanted to get them for a friend. And I thought you went home!" he added a little later, pointing an accusing finger at her.

She only sighed at his explanation. "I went home to shower quickly and came to get a few things myself, but unlike someone I don't have to steal."

"Can you really call it stealing if you plan to pay back later? That's why there are such things called tabs!"

"I'm sure with you, no one would buy that. Just wait here, I'll be right back." she smiled at him and went off into the bakery. He could only stand there curiously and wait, but it didn't take long before she came back out with a bag full of what he had been trying to get. "Here." she pushed the warm bag into his hands and smiled again. "Now instead of oweing the store, you owe me."

"But why would you do that for me?" he asked with a bit of caution as he numbly took the bag from her hands. "And after all that fighting before?"

"Hmm, well I really don't know. You could call it a peace offering or maybe 'cause it'll create much less of a hassle later on or perhaps add more if you don't pay back." she smirked at him when his face grew a bit pale at having to face her rage if he didn't keep to his debt. "It doesn't hurt to help someone out a little is what I'm saying." she smiled one last time before turning to go down the street. "See you around Naruto." she waved at him in goodbye as he simply stood there staring at her back.

Whatever the reason for the sudden show of kindness Naruto made a mental note to pay back the debt as soon as he could, but at least for now he wouldn't greet Hinata empty handed. It was the least he could do even though he didn't do much.

Happy that he had something, he knew where his next destination would be and he was sure after the events of the morning he would be in worse shape if he got caught near the place; the Hyuga Complex. He never really ventured into the place, but he thought that visiting just once wouldn't be much of a problem as long as he didn't get caught by Neji or anyone else for that matter.

The easiest action to take would be as he was when he always sneaked inside of the village; a nimble yellow fox that just wouldn't give up even if it meant taking a kunai to the stomach. He took care to turn into his other form in a barren area; it had been too long since he last used this form and he admitted that he was certainly not so small as to fit through a few cracked holes like he had as a child, but he was still fast enough to escape a few eyes. With the handle of the bag in his mouth he made his way through the shadows and towards the building he had passed on occasion. A few windows were lit and few people were walking about, there was the same faint smell of that perfume and had instantly thought of her cousin that may still be around to notice him.

A low growl escaped him as he turned away from the entrance to look for another way. The area was a bit vast, but he managed to find a window that lacked light and as risky as it was he decided to take his chances and go through. Climbing up to the window he gently pushed his nose against the cool glass and found that it wasn't closed all the way. He practically screamed in silent joy in his head and wasted no time in slipping through the opening. He didn't expect the fall to be so long and had dropped the bag when a small cry of pain tore at his throat. The sound startled him so much he dashed under the nearest object, which happened to be the bed, and waited for a minute or two for feet to come pounding through the door.

Long seconds passed and not a single muffled sound of feet reached his keen ears. The room he was in was beginning to fall into darkness with the drifting sun which meant there was no one around and the scent he finally took notice of made his tail wag in barely contained glee when he darted out from under the bed. It was a room that definitely belonged to a girl as shown by a bunny sitting at the far side of the room beside the door.

He was told of the perfume from earlier, but he knew that this scent was not just of artificial smell, but of a distinct one that he would always recognize without fail. This room was one he could safely call Hinata's and now he could just wait here for her. His smile turned soft as he allowed old memories to swim on through his head and remember fun times.

Darkness of night reigned over the sky as people made to retire to their homes after the events of the day and it was then that they had finally returned.

"Well that took longer than expected..." Kiba stretched his aching muscles and continued on towards the Hokage's Tower. "You guys can go home, I'll do the report this time." he offered with a wide toothy grin.

"You're sure Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked feeling a little unsure.

"Yeah I can do it. See you guys later." he waved at them before darting away with Akamaru hot on his trail.

"Would you like me to walk you home, Hinata?" Shino offered softly.

"Oh no thank you Shino-kun. You should go home and get some rest, I'll be fine getting home myself." she smiled gratefully at his offer, but thought that he deserved to get some rest.

"If you are sure. Goodnight Hinata." he nodded at her and disappeared in a swarm of insects. She waved at him in return before taking a path towards her home.

The scroll felt surprisingly heavy on her back and she wouldn't mind taking it off and taking a nice shower before going to bed. She was disappointed that she couldn't learn anything else about Naruto from the Guardian of the Sand, but supposed that she could always try again the next day.

She said a quick "I'm home." before making her way towards her room, saying a quick hello to Ko who had seen her coming in and explaining that the mission was okay aside from a few bumpy stops along the way. She was sure that everyone else was asleep by now and eagerly wanted to join them, but she just had to drop the scroll off on her bed and then she could take a quick bath or something to wash away the dirt and sand from her body. When she came to her room, she could only gasp loudly at the beautiful sight of a brightly colored fox lying on her bed with its tail curled around its thin body in sleep. Her gasp only made a single white-tipped ear twitch but nothing more than that as he continued to sleep comfortably with the open bag of cinnamon rolls lying next to him with a few of them gone and one half eaten.

The girl didn't know what to do, but stand for a couple of more lingering seconds as she tried to gain her bearings as well convince herself that it wasn't a hallucination from the dry sun.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she whispered softly, but the fox still did not stir from its sleep. Afraid of breaking the serene sight she entered her room and gently slid the door to a close. Compared to the first time she saw him, he was bigger and probably stronger too. The scroll that followed her to the ground brought up a few bits of dust as she sat down against the door, her eyes becoming heavy despite her protesting mind, but she couldn't really complain after seeing him after so long. She could only pray that this was no other dream that she had from other various scenarios. "Sweet dreams, Naruto-kun..." she mumbled as she too succumbed to the night's influence.

* * *

"She knows now?" a cool feminine voice asked in a dimly lit room.

"Well I would guess that she has an idea." another spoke, but it was deeper and more light compared to the other.

The room though dim was lit with a single candle sitting on a wooden table. There was only one person occupying the single chair situated at the table and it was Minato who had one hand against his cheek and the other was lying flat on the surface of the furniture. His face was expressionless as he stared at the darkness shrouding the rest of the space. "In your condition you shouldn't really be concerned about this." he said softly and the small flame seemed to flicker at him.

A single thick red colored tail slithered over the floor to curl around the form resting atop of a fairly large couch. Tired red eyes seemed to glow when the woman opened them to look at the two-tailed being looking back at her with fearless eyes. "Your wounds are still healing from the snake's venom." the male added after seeing her try and lift another heavy tail.

"Minato..." she whispered. "You mustn't tell her about that... she wouldn't want that... Naruto wouldn't want that..." she sighed as a low growl escaped her from the pain of the slow venom that was still in the process of being drained from her body. She was ignoring his words of warning and still tried to move her tails to a more comfortable position. Her form was not so towering of the buildings like normal. She had shifted into a smaller one at least the size if the king-like couch to better take care of the wounds she sustained from the giant purple snake that had done a sneak attack to her party making her take the brunt of his attack. Minato stood to move to her side and look at the gash torn from her shoulder to the bottom of her ribcage.

A pointed snout bared gleaming fangs at him when he approached her in a warning, but he knew that it was just for show and he simply touched the bottom of her jaw, leaning down to look at the wound. Even though he had been with her for many years, her feral growls were still enough to make him a little uneasy, yet she had never snapped at him once, but being the original nine tailed fox did have its tolls. Her body though still strong was not accustomed to newly built poison. Manda was a genetically altered creature specially made from the most sought out ninja; Orochimaru. She would have been able to find and kill him had it not been for that single mistake of a sneak attack.

"I let myself get carried away..." she sighed and he only chuckled at her.

"Well it's not the first time." he was answered with a piercing glare. "All joking aside, please refrain from moving any further, a medic will come soon to check out the wound and bound it."

"I don't need a medic, my body can heal itself!" she snarled, but she knew better than to argue with the man who simply smiled kindly at her.

"I know."


	8. Chapter 8

_Small feet pounded furiously against the hard ground as warm tears streamed past tightly shut eyes, the small child paid no heed to the faint sounds of the chattering people, paid no attention to the rush of the wind nor to the pain of her dry throat as she inhaled the air without reserve. The freshly forming bruise littered over the right side of her cheek was throbbing with a painful heat, but that pain was nothing to the sight of her father looking down at her with disapproving, disappointed, eyes that did not even try to hide the hard truth that she was just not holding up to the Family's expectations._

_After her training she did not even bother to clean herself up or place any shoes on to go outside; the moment her father was out of sight she had made a break for it. Any place was better than this cold mansion known as her home. She knew she wasn't good enough, but at least she tried. She put everything she had in her training and yet, her father gave not even a hint of acknowlegement to her efforts. Just a little word would be enough for her, maybe she could try harder, maybe she could be better than her sister or even her cousin. _

_Or perhaps nothing would change at all._

_Her feet were hurting, her chest was too tight, but the young child dared not open her eyes until she collapsed into the dirt, so caught up with her own despair was she that she failed to notice the difference in texture of the ground her bare feet rushed through, did not even notice the chirping of birds replacing the loud chatter of the villagers. No, none of these obvious things did nothing to catch the girl's attention, nothing but a loud splash and a sudden drop in temperature._

_Hinata pulled her head out of the water's surface with a loud gasp for air. Her arms struggled to try and gain a measure of balance in the lake, wide eyes finally opened to see that she no longer remained in the safety of the towering walls nor in the sight of familiar escorts, but rather in the playful place she had come to memerize and it seems her feet knew exactly where to go in such distressing times. A whimper escaped her as she saw the sun reflect its glaring light onto the smooth surface now distorted by her unexpected entrance. Beyond the edge where water met land across from her side she could see the same boy stare back at her blankly with a colorful block held loosely in one hand over what was supposed to be a geometric castle of reds, yellows and blues. _

_"H-Hinata-chan?" the boy called out, but she still did not answer, only drifted around with a saddened expression and tears falling freely to mix with the water. "Hey..." his ears twitched at her lack of response and it was then that he realized she was in the water with no other type of dry clothing. Fumbling, the fox boy abandoned his toys to slip into the lake and swam quickly to her side. He grabbed at her wrist and started pulling towards his spot; he could hear her quiet whimpers as they neared dry land and when he glanced at her he could see the light shade of purple marking her fair skin._

_"Hey, come on Hinata-chan don't cry. Let's go home and fix that bruise." he tugged at her hand with an assuring smile. "I promise it won't hurt anymore!" he said confidently, thinking that was the cause of her tears._

_Between her hiccups, she brought away her hand from her eyes to look at her friend who had his ears flat against his head, expressing his sadness and concern. She nodded at him under his gaze and he all but dashed into the forest with her in tow._

_The leaves of the surrounding trees were alive, shining with the radiant sun as the children passed by their domain. Curious animals of small sizes watched from their perch as the familiar fox sprinted with the girl of the village and a few even followed; a raccoon, a few birds, a weasle and even another fox that was simply just a wild fox. They followed the pair back to the house hidden behind the guise of wildlife and followed them inside well knowing what else was living in the man-made building._

_Naruto went past the main room and went straight into the bathroom, ignoring his father who was minding the kitchen, but allowed an eye to follow them and their little guests._

_"Don't worry. Ma says that putting on medicine and then a band-aid onto an injury will make it go away faster!" he said in a rush as he pulled out some ointment and then a single pink band-aid. "You know, like what you did with my kunai injury, except I think this one is smaller..." he mumbled looking at the band-aid and the bruise on her cheek._

_Hinata stayed silent as he applied the cool substance on her cheek not sure if it would actually work for a bruise, but the cool feeling it had was rather soothing; well at least it would help with bringing the swelling down. She smiled softly at his hard gaze fixed on her cheek until finally he placed the band-aid over it. _

_"There! Does that feel better?" he asked with a hopeful wag of his heavy, water-soaked tail. The little girl had to giggle at his hopeful face, he was just like a puppy or in this case a small kit. She nodded at him with a small blush not caused by her running or her tears._

_"Mm-hm. Thank you Naruto-kun." she whispered earning a wide grin from the boy._

The few seconds that remained before the inevitable waking were spent holding that memory in pause. The grown teenager could feel the warm rays of the sun hit on her face, but she wished so dearly to stay asleep, locked forever in a time where duties of bloodline were of no importance. She knew that was selfish of her, that it was no different than running away, but just for a moment longer she just wanted to be with her one true friend even if it was only in a dream.

Across from the Hyuga girl, the fox stirred in its slumber feeling the warm heat of the rising day and taking his time taking in what he expected to be the smells of wildlife or of familiar territory, but what came to him was no scent of herbal leaves nor the sound of runing water like he had expected. The scent of light perfume, sweet pastries, and something akin to paper entered his curious nose that compelled light blue eyes to lazily flutter open. It was all a blur of colors as he saw the light illuminate the room he had entered the night before, the bag of half-eaten cinnamon rolls was still in his line of sight including one he had forgotten to finish smearing his paw in a bit of frosting as he slowly lifted his heavy head to try and remember where he was.

Without thought he moved to stretch his long body fully, letting out a soundless yawn in the process and was just about to revert to his human-like appearance until narrow blue eyes caught sight of the girl lying against the door with the large scroll standing just beside her. All sound of the morning birds and of the outside life abandoned him as he stood there on the bed, wide-eyed and in disbelief.

_**"H-Hinata...chan..."**_ he all but whispered this, but his voice seemed to cause her to mumble and move her head, her eyebrows furrowing in her attempt to stay asleep. Naruto stood there frozen at the sight of how much his dear friend had grown since the last time they had seen each other. No longer did she have the short hair he remembered and though he remembers saying something, or at least thought at one time that he liked her hair the way it was, now that it had grown out more he thought of her as nothing more than royalty. If he had to guess he would think that her shyness had gone away as well despite that small part of him that said it was what made her, her.

He couldn't help but feel a full bubble of excitement and just plain happiness well up inside him, his mouth opened with a wide grin, completely forgetting that he was not out in the forest and inside a complex full of other family members, including Neji. Energy fueled his muscles as he made to pounce on the sleeping girl, far too happy to contain himself or even transform back to normal.

_**"Hinata-chan!"**_

The loud shout of her name jolted the girl awake and provided just enough of a reflex to bring her hands up and soften the blow to her body. The fox had pounced on her hard enough to break through the fragile door, ignoring the small squeak of surprise that tore through her throat.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she exclaimed as a loud poof expelled the fox form and instead replaced it with the boy she had once played with, only now he was not so little as to be called a boy.

"I finally get to see you again, Hinata-chan! It's been too long!" he pulled her tighter into his embrace unaware that his actions and the fact that he was on top of her forced a scarlet blush to bloom over her entire face. "I have so much to tell you, too!"

"Uh, N-Naruto-kun...um w-wait please!" her pink blush suddenly cooled to a dreadful blue when her eyes caught sight of something just above them. Before she could say anything else, he pulled himself up still clueless as to how the two were positioned on the floor.

"And I wanna know how you've been, too! Hm? What's wrong, you look a little pale, did I make you hit your head? Are ya sick?" he placed a palm over her forehead to check her temperature.

"Umm...ah... N-no, but I-I really think you should get up now..." she whispered unable to mask her fear at the moment.

"Why?" he asked with a small hint of a whine tailing into his tone.

She gestured with her eyes to look up and when he followed her worried gaze he found she had all reason to be scared. Looming over them with shadowed eyes was her older cousin, Neji.

Every single line of fur raised in a bristle as his eyes locked on to enraged white ones just forming the veins at the side of them. A growl was just a breath away from the Hyuga through clenched teeth before Naruto hastily rose from his position to try and explain.

"Is this the sort of relationship you have with my cousin?"

"No, no! Just wait a sec and let me explain!" he tried to cool the man in front of him by waving his arms. He probably would have had a chance to talk had his position not look so offending; with him now sitting on top of the girl, but he was answered with chakra moving throughout him in a fury and was left with no other choice, but to escape. "Take it from here fur-balls!" a few quick hand signs later, both Hinata and Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced with several small foxes all laughing at the male in front of them.

"What in the-"

"Ooh! It's distraction time!" one shouted in obvious glee as they all danced and ran around the Hyuga's feet, but being the ever controlled ninja that he was, their running and deft movements weren't enough to actually make him fall.

"Distraction?" he meant for that to be said mentally, but his lips had already formed the word.

"Yeah, we distract you while he plays with that Hinata girl!"

"Play?"

Far away from the bright and disturbed Hyuga compound, Naruto placed his long time friend down on familiar grounds that was oddly hidden from outside view. Hinata was still a little flustered from the sudden wakening and being seen in an awkward position by her own cousin when it was still just the morning. When she was just about to look over her surroundings she felt strong arms wrap once more over her shoulders in another embrace; startled she stared at the side of his head with a newly placed blush taking over her face.

A small faint one could also be seen on the boy, however that one was from pure happiness at seeing her again after so long. "I'm so glad I get to see you again!" apparently the morning event did not seem to faze him much.

"It's r-really good to see you too, Naruto-kun..." her words were so flimsy in her ears almost as if the years meant nothing. Of course she had missed him terribly, some times to the point of crying and as she grew steadily stronger she had many questions that were dying to be said now that he was here, but now that she had met up with him, her mind was far too baffled to even talk straight. But despite her shyness and stuttering, she replied with a firm hug of her own, bravely holding onto his back in response.

They soon pulled away from each other and were content in being in the other's company until Naruto remembered the reason he had came. His ears twitched when he looked down to see that his scroll was still attached to her, but he couldn't really say he wanted it back. He would have to go back after he found it and he realy wouldn't mind staying awhile to catch up on the years.

Hinata took that moment to look over familiar surroundings and was surprised to find the bridge standing proudly over the gentle lake that had dissappeared the same as her friend when she was just a genin. The forest was also noticeably fuller and wilder than she last saw it. As Naruto pondered over the object, his eyes widened just slightly as a thought crossed over him and he looked over to see the crimson scroll while she looked behind her distantly.

"Hey Hinata-chan?" he called softly and she responded with a soft "Hm?"

He couldn't really bring himself to ask the cold question that prodded at his mind and instead stared at the scroll in deep thought.

"Oh that's right..." the memory of Minato telling her that Naruto would come for the scroll finally processed and she quickly undid the strap to hold the scroll out to him. "Someone told me you would be looking for this..." she couldn't help but notice the slight flinch of his tail, but decided to wait for him to say something.

"Y-yeah..." he said softly, weakly reaching for it. "Say Hinata-chan, did you by any chance..." he swallowed nervously as he remembered the words of his mother's explanation to a summoning. " Sign your name in it?"

* * *

A loud content sigh escaped the woman as she wrapped another lush tail beneath her bare form, careful to minimize movement on her torso so as not to disturb the wond that continued to burn at her flesh. Red eyes gleamed as they locked onto the calm blue that failed to reflect the small smile on the male's lips. He was just finishing up the boundings of her wounds and wiping away the blood off his hands with a wet rag.

"This way it'll heal faster, don't you think?" he asked playfully, ignoring the rage fuming off her in waves. Kushina hugged the tail to her chest, inhaling a breath before speaking and waved her tails all about the two of them. Being an original Uzumaki, a full fledged Kyuubi, the length of her tails were beyond that of normal beasts and surpassed even her husband's. They coiled around him and one intwined with his own in an intimate fashion, but he wouldn't be fooled by her trickery.

"Why did you leave the scroll with him, why did you allow her to sign her name in the scroll?" she whispered. Minato frowned at her and moved to wipe the sweat away from her forehead with a clean cloth.

"I'm pretty sure Naruto would have liked for Hinata to be his first contractor. It isn't like it's set in blood." he paused to think over his choice of words. "Well that sort of blood."

"Not yet... I would understand if it was someone else like the Uchiha or a an ANBU member, but this is just torture. You know a contract would shorten her life span, why would you even think of giving it to her?" she was near yelling at him, but the wound still covering her chest and a hand holding her down was enough to keep her mildly quiet.

"A contract does not always shorten a life, but can expand."

The bright red eyes glowed a surreal shine and the fangs became more prominate as her anger continued to escalate. "You don't mean that." she growled through clenched teeth as scarlet eyes flashed towards his chest in an almost hateful look. However the stern look of the man before her told her otherwise. "B-but, to do that would..." she sighed to calm herself, relaxing under the comforting touch of the cool rag. She would have beaten the male to a pulp had she been in top condition, but threatening growls and glowing eyes were all she could manage in her weakened state.

"She could die... if the seal is to be made on her."

-X-X-X-

**A/N:**** Yeah I know I have horrible timing and stop when things just start to get good, but when there are things such as a gaming device that have cartridges with the name "Pokemon" (specifically White 2) on them, I can get distracted very easily from other things. Yup, its guilty and therefore is responsible for the end of this chapter. Shame on you game. XP**

**Oh and sorry if this seemed a bit rushed (nope completely rushed), I couldn't quite get a decent flow going. I promise that the next chapter will be much longer, but don't expect a quick update for a long chapter. Till then~**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:**** I sincerely apologize for the late update as well as a few mistakes if you seem to spot any (Please tell me if it's a critical one and I'll fix it). I know I promised to have a longer chapter, but my computer acted up on me and wouldn't work for squat. However, to make up for it, the following two chapters should be updated I suppose somewhere this week. Honestly speaking though, I'm not having high hopes on this fic. I feel like I messed up somewhere... But I'll worry about that at the end, so in the mean time carry on.**

* * *

Naruto's uncertain eyes made Hinata suddenly feel like she had done something wrong and she swallowed thickly in worry as if his gaze was demanding her to say _no_. For a split moment she thought of saying just that, but it would be such an obvious lie that it would only make him think she was stupid. Instead, she moved away from him to stare down at the clean lake's surface and it seemed that the familiar old body of water brought her a sense of assurance.

"I did." she whispered, more to the lake than to her companion. "But it didn't work." she finished in a sorrowful tone.

The boy who had kept his gaze on her, drew in a quiet breath. A mixture of emotions swirled throughout his mind; anger, sorrow and happiness alike, most of all was that of fear. He smiled softly as if to try and dispel the cold emotion and went to join her by the lake. With a small tug to the sleeve of her jacket he brought her to sit next to him, a wide goofy smile telling her everything was alright. Even as she settled down beside him, he didn't dare let his grasp go. His eyes were closed, but his smile soon faded as his lips parted slightly to speak in a soft voice. "I'll tell you a secret." he murmured so to keep his voice low.

"The Uzumaki clan used to be plentiful, but now there exists only one pure blooded Fox. Each member's power is marked by the number of tails they have; at least that's what an elder told ma a long time ago. For centuries though, each member had nine tails. That's why each member is referred to as Kyuubi in that respect, but now... Only my mother is pure blooded, see?" he pointed to the wagging yellow tail behind him to emphasize his point. "Pa is only a two-tailed, but is way more powerful than me!" His tone made it seem like he was more proud than envious. "But summoning one, even one that is not pure is very dangerous." The lightness in his tone lowered as he spoke and his eyes slowly opened to reveal sad blue eyes to which Hinata could not understand and it scared her.

"Only ANBU shinobi and Hokages are able to summon us with minor consequences, but even they have to aquire a seal somewhere on their body."

At this Hinata brought up her head and stared at him. "A seal?"

"Mm-hm. Without it, all you will get are statues of foxes." That explained all the statues that littered her bedroom. "The signature on the scroll is only a formality. Having the seal is the real deal."

"But then, how is it that I was able to summon Minato-san?" At that Naruto shot his head up in surprise, ears and tail erect in surprise.

"You summoned pa?" he asked in shock. She nodded her head slowly, afraid that she had done something she was not suppose to. Naruto stared at her with sharp eyes trying to comprehend what she had said. "That...shouldn't be possible. Pa never made a contract with anyone! Er... At least none that I know of." After a full minute, he suddenly jumped up after having thought of the only solution. "He must have placed a transportation seal on my scroll or maybe on one of those foxes... Either way that's the only way he could have found you." He suddenly gasped, "Unless he did it much earlier! He's more of a fox than me!" he exclaimed in mock horror.

He had wanted to lighten the atmosphere and it seemed to work as Hinata lowered her head and giggled at him. Yet, his smile was half-hearted as he looked at her with soft eyes. He really didn't want to say this to his best friend. He had hoped that she wouldn't even see this scroll even though he had wanted to show it off to her and explain that he could almost be Hokage material. But by the looks of her, he could only guess she was at least Chunin if not a Jounin. He grabbed the scroll and quickly opened it, silently hoping that she would be joking only to see the name written there on the blank sheet. All in a maelstrom, he felt great elation and great pain.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan... but I can't allow the seal to be put on you." he said lowly. Hinata peered up at him shyly and tilted her head in confusion; the sinking feeling of dread creeping up in her. Was he perhaps saying he wouldn't see her again?

"Naruto-kun?"

"I can't allow the seal to be placed on you." he sighed as he turned to look at the water.

Hinata looked up at him unsure whether she should say anything. Her thoughts were put at pause when she heard his voice again.

"Listen closely 'cause I'm sure to be severely punished if anyone else gets word of this. I can't repeat it." She nodded her head once at him and he sighed once more. "With the blood of a Kyuubi, the seal is made somewhere on the body. Once it is there, chakra from them is infused within it and that is the actual summoning seal. At that point, it is completely up to the bearer of that seal to summon an Uzumaki." He paused to look down at the water. With one flick of his tail, ripples began to form and touch into silhoettes; showing a female human undergoing the procedure.

"Once the bearer has made the appropriate hand signs, they will place their entire hand on the seal and one of two things will happen." he pointed at the water as it swayed and moved under his influence. "If the Fox's chakra accepts the chakra of the other as equal or more power than they will become a part of our clan after the summoning. Of course that is if they want to. ANBU leveled shinobi are able to reject the transformation, but the summoning will still take its toll somewhere, somehow." The water swirled and added the extra attributes of a fox on the girl, showing that she was accepted or if she didn't want the transformation. "We are only summoned in extreme conditions anyway."

"But, if the chakra level is uneven, then the Fox chakra will reject the bearer and the transformation will be made regardless of the summoner's wishes." He stopped and dispelled the moving water's images. The scroll was quickly closed and he stared at the girl with piercing eyes. "Those statues of small foxes are the result of rejected summoners; they won't remember ever being human. And even then, it would be considered lucky for the rejected, because if the chakra is too great for the person to handle than their body couldn't possibly-" The sudden sound of a twig being snapped cut him off. The two quickly stood from their places as they awaited the unknown intruder.

Calmly the young man moved out from the tree's shadows and stood in front of them with foxes biting hard onto his clothing.

"Brother..."

"Move away from Hinata-sama, beast." he ordered calmly. Naruto remained where he was as he quietly contemplated his options. Casually, he threw his arms behind his head as if it were no big deal. He thought for a few more seconds before turning his head the other way in defiance.

"Sorry, but you're not my master, lady." The comment was enough to make an eyebrow twitch.

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata warned as she tried to keep both eyes on the boys.

"Why you little-"

"I'm not kidding." he shot, cracking one eye open to peer at the both of them. "I'll assume that you've heard what I've said and I'm positive you heard something about the seal, right?" An answer was not needed as he continued, turning to look at Hinata. "Though you may not be able to summon me, Hinata-chan, you still signed the contract on _my_ genuine scroll. Despite that fact, you are still seen as my Master. But... I don't think I can let you have the scroll. I came only to get my it back and then head to where I belong."

When he saw the girl give him a confused look he quickly shook his head.

"Wait, don't get me wrong, Hinata-chan!. I definitely belong right here, but I'm not supposed to be here right now. It's more like a mission and a big one. I want to leave it with you, believe me, I do." He seemed to sigh the words out in mourning. "But I'm not sure that would be a good idea..." He looked down on the floor where the scroll stood beside his leg.

"I... I promise you, Hinata-chan, that I'll come back real soon. I swear to you I will." With quick speed he thrust his hand in front of her with a pinky held out to her. "And then we can play more games to make up for lost time..." He curled his held out pinky finger over her own, completely ignoring the murderous glares her cousin was shooting at him. Hinata couldn't find any words to say to him and could only stare at him with sorrowful eyes that were cutting at him with jagged ends. All he could manage for her was a weak smile and then he was gone with a swift poof of smoke lingering in his wake.

Just like that he was gone...again. The foxes clinging onto the clothing of the one she called brother also poofed away and as they did, she couldn't help, but picture herself without any memories of herself. The scroll was important in a way, but it was only a scroll.

Another hand took hold of hers and she whipped her head to meet with familiar lavender eyes. "We must return, Hinata-sama." Though she knew that the first impression he had gotten of her life-long friend was not a preferable one, she could tell that her cousin was well aware of the gravity Naruto's words held. The fox boy didn't want to risk losing her into oblivion, and though she signed the scroll she would still be safe as long as it remained in his hands. Her hand was loose as her mind wandered and her face reflected in the calm waters of the lake. There was no breeze and there was no sign of other life.

It was only then, just before they would walk away that she noticed the gentle sway of the waters at the other side of the bridge. "Wait..." They stood quietly and they listened; the chirping of the birds had died without their notice and the wind had suddenly picked up a little. Casting a quick glance towards Neji, she could see that he seemed disturbed by an ominous feeling and yet, she could not help, but feel something familiar to this wind of mystery. It was gentle, yet strong; heavy, but controlled if just barely. She hadn't even realized that she had her Byakugan activated until she saw the sight of crimson chakra spreading out in the near distance; hidden.

And soon, such things as sadness and loneliness were diminished as two pairs of feet sprinted past the lake and into the thickness of the forest towards a small house.

* * *

Pushing away a stray strand of red hair, Minato smiled softly at the sight of a sleeping Kushina. Her body was still coursing small bits of venom through her system and it was troubling her greatly. The wound was also taking too much time to heal that she feared she would not be able to go back into battle. He did not want her to worry and most definitely did not want her to get herself killed. Orochimaru wouldn't be able to find them here, giving them some time to prepare. What remains of the dying clan was left back in sound to deal with the snakes and hold them off at a stalemate as best they could, but it wouldn't last forever.

Still, the male smiled. He knew that without Kushina to aid in the battle it would be quite a struggle for them, but he also knew that she nor he would be around forever to fight for the peace of their village. He wiped a cool cloth over her forehead to ease her of the bothersome heat of her fever and only smiled further when he felt something go past the lake he had placed upon first settling in the borders of Konoha.

It possibly wouldn't have been such a struggle had he not played with the power he wielded.

One last time, he would try to set something right.


End file.
